Ethnic Slovak Hungarians accused of "repression" by Slota

Hungarians are repressing Slovaks in the Slovak Republic to this very day, the head of the far right Slovak National Party, part of the new governing coalition in Bratislava, told a Czech newspaper at the weekend.

Ján Slota, known for his extremist views, said he would prefer to ban the Hungarian Coalition Party in Slovakia, and described Lajos Kossuth and Ferenc Rákóczi as the biggest murderers of Slovaks. He said he envies the Czechs, as they chased out ethnic Germans. Slota is not a member of the Slovak cabinet.

Socialist caucus leader Ildikó Lendvai called Slota's statements an unusually wild diatribe, lacking any historical or current political sense. She said the Hungarian cabinet had hoped that Slota would reconsider his extremist opinions, as a result of being in government, or at least abstain from attacking ethnic Hungarians.

Fidesz caucus leader Tibor Navracsics said it is greatly worrying to see an extreme nationalist party take power in a neighbouring country. The statement is not a marginal development, he continued, as Slota is the leader of a party in the Slovak governing coalition. Hungary ought to give due importance to this dangerous situation, he concluded.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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