Police are investigating a video which features the burning of the Hungarian state flag and which has already evoked strong condemnation from the Hungarian government.
Hungary has made an official request to Slovakia to provide information on action taken against the producer(s) of the video, saying that its content promotes hatred and offends the dignity of the Hungarian nation.
The video, which presumably features a group of neo-Nazi affiliates expressing their hatred towards Hungarians by burning the national flag and chanting anti-Hungarian slogans, has already been removed from an internet web site, the newswire TASR wrote.
The police are working on seizing the video so that it can be analyzed and so that we can determine whether a crime has been committed, Police Corps spokeswoman Marta Bujnáková told the TASR newswire.
Meanwhile, a 21-year-old Slovak using the nickname "werwolfSSlovakia" has claimed responsibility for producing the 86-second recording, according to the webserver Index. The same source also states that the person concerned is a follower of the fascist ideology, as is indicated by two other videos of an anti-Roma character and the fact that the anti-Hungarian video features skinhead music.
The flag-burning video, which ends with a shout in English - "Always opposite Hungary! [sic]", appeared on the internet on July 30 and was taken off again on August 7.
The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry said it strongly condemns all words or actions that don't contribute towards friendly relations between Slovakia and Hungary - and that includes the defamation of state symbols.
The statement from Slovak diplomacy was presented to the Hungarian Ambassador to Slovakia Csaba Gyorffy at the Slovak foreign ministry via Ján Voderadský on behalf of the European Affairs section.
The Slovak Government is categorically against all forms of racism, intolerance, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism and extremism. The government will react the same way in the future, too, according to the statement.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
