Index – National – Hungarian Vaccine Aid May Rewrite Slovak Citizenship Law

“Peter Szijjártó is a friend from Slovakia,” wrote Igor Matovič on his community page. The Slovak Prime Minister thanked the Hungarian Foreign Minister for helping his country obtain enough Sputnik V to vaccinate one million people. Matovič also thanked the Hungarian Foreign Minister in Riga by phone, writes ma7.sk.

Assistance in obtaining the Russian vaccine may even solve the problem of disputed dual citizenship, as Igor Matovič promised at the end of his thanks for amending the citizenship law:

My relationship with Péter and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is so direct that we can always talk openly about more difficult issues, such as the dual citizenship law, which we have modified on my own initiative so that citizens of another country with permanent residence can acquire citizenship in another country Slovakia would lose.

The debate on dual citizenship reached its peak on Thursday when, after Péter Szijjártó’s visit on Wednesday, the Slovak Foreign Ministry appointed Hungary’s ambassador to Bratislava.

Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok rejected Péter Szijjártó’s request on the grounds that the Citizenship Law was not the subject of bilateral relations. As he said, he wants to maintain good relations with Hungary, but refuses to interfere in the internal affairs of Slovakia.

Korčok complained that Matovič’s coalition partner György Gyimesi, a representative of OĽANO, had negotiated an unfinished law with the Hungarian Foreign Minister.

The head of the Slovak ministry made it clear that the Hungarian government wanted as many Slovak-Hungarians as possible to participate in the Hungarian parliamentary elections fighting against dual citizenship. Slovak representative Martin Klus went so far as to stir up the Hungarian invasion of Slovakia.

Good neighborhood relations

The acquisition of the Russian vaccine came at the best time for Hungarian-Slovak relations, as Igor Matovič thanked the Hungarian side for their help in obtaining vaccines with the promise of establishing dual citizenship. All of this happened after Slovakia once rejected the Russian vaccine. Coalition Partner of Matovič, Chairman of the People’s Party, Veronika Remišová Deputy Prime Minister stated in February:

We don’t want the government to treat the population like an experimental rabbit.

He said this when the epidemic in Slovakia peaked, the country’s healthcare system was on the brink of collapse, and Bratislava appealed to the European Union for help.

Igor Matovič also shared that he first approached Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and the Hungarian head of government asked Péter Szijjártó to help our neighbor to the north. The Slovak Prime Minister also sent a message to his domestic political opponents:

I don’t like anyone spreading the exact opposite about people who show by their actions that they are friends of Slovakia. However, since such an adverse event may have occurred in Slovakia, I would like to publicly thank Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, for his great help in the procurement of two million Russian Sputnik V vaccines.

Péter Szijjártó, who is negotiating in Latvia, also reacted to the gesture of the Slovak Prime Minister:

The gesture was good. For my part, it was natural for me to help the Slovak Prime Minister get vaccinated. After all, beyond personal sympathy, the healthier our neighbors are, the better for us Hungarians.

The Foreign and Trade Minister told Index.

The first batch of Russian vaccine landed in Bratislava on March 1 and a total of one million people needed to vaccinate Sputynik V arrive in Slovakia.

(Cover Image: Igor
Slovak Prime Minister Matovič (j) and Slovak Health Minister Marek Krajci will issue a press release at Košice International Airport in Slovakia on March 1, 2021.
Photo: PETER LAZAR / AFP)