Slovakia has for several weeks now been exposed to grave and unscrupulous attacks from Hungarian officials, including the Hungarian President, Laszlo Solyom, reads a statement released by Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paška and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on August 19, the TASR newswire reported.
“President Solyom refused to meet with some of the Slovak officials during his planned visit to the Slovak town of Komárno, which is at odds with the rules of international decency,” reads the statement. According to the three Slovak officials, the date of the Hungarian president’s planned visit - August 21 (the day when Slovakia commemorates the anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 in which Hungarian forces took part) - shows insensitivity.
“We perceive a visit organised in this way – not via official channels – to be a deliberate provocation, and we cannot take responsibility for the consequences it will bring,” wrote the three high Slovak officials. They are prepared for a worsening of Slovak-Hungarian relations if the visit goes ahead as planned, TASR wrote.
The officials say Hungary has launched an unprecedented international campaign to discredit Slovakia, based on deliberate misinterpretation of the amended version of the Slovak State Language Act. Slovakia is open to all steps aimed at improving mutual relations, including a meeting on the highest level – however, this means meetings organised in the standard way, which is not the case this time. They also stated that Laszlo Solyom's visit to Slovakia under these circumstances is highly inappropriate and the Hungarian President is not a welcome guest in Slovakia on this day, TASR wrote.
Solyom was invited by the mayor of Komarno, Tibor Bastrnák, to attend the unveiling of a statue of Hungary's most revered monarch King Stephen I.
Everybody who contributed to the construction of the statue has been invited to its ceremonial unveiling in the town, said the Komarno mayor who is associated with the Most-Hid party. According to Bastrnák, the Hungarian president contributed financially to construction of the status - as a private person. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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