Four Members of Parliament from the opposition Movement For a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) met with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia on November 19. Slovak government officials called the meeting a "provocation" and an attempt to tarnish Slovakia's image before the EU summit in Helsinki next month, but the HZDS MP's said that the meeting was "not political".
According to HZDS caucus chairman Tibor Cabaj, the HZDS was only interested in discussing Slovaks living in Yugoslavia and the post-war situation in the war-torn country. The meeting was arranged by Yugoslav Ambassador to Slovakia Veljko Curcic, who had extended an invitation to the whole Slovak government on behalf of President Milosevic.
Cabaj said the trip was "positive", but maintained that it should not be viewed as having any political relevance. "It is not good when a political act is made out of something that is not a political act," he said. Cabaj was accompanied by three other HZDS MP's - Gustáv Krajči, Jan Cuper and Michal Drobny.
