According to Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák, the amendment to the Dual Citizenship Act that Hungary is planning to adopt offers no advantages to ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia and will only bring legal uncertainty as regards their citizenship status.
“The Act offers nothing to our citizens. It grants them no rights, no advantages, which they, as citizens of Slovakia, wouldn’t be able to enjoy now. What it offers, in fact, is legal uncertainty as a result of the theoretical possibility of being attached to two countries in terms of citizenship status,” said Lajčák to the TASR newswire, adding that this would give Hungarian governments a tool with which to bolster institutional ties with ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary.
Lajčák stressed that if the Hungarian side is going to speak about toning Hungarian identity, the question of the related cost arises. The diplomat also said that Slovakia's objections are of a highly pragmatic nature, as the amendment’s wording has dropped the condition that those who want to claim dual citizenship must be permanent residents of Hungary. He stated that Slovakia also has “substantial political objections”.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
