Posted on 08/26/2006 2:55:30 PM PDT by Grzegorz 246
HUNGARIAN Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany condemned an increase in "atrocities" against ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia today after a girl was beaten and robbed in a Slovak town.
Mr Gyurcsany called a press conference after the ethnic Hungarian girl was attacked in Nitra, western Slovakia, yesterday after being overheard speaking Hungarian on her mobile phone.
The attackers forced her to take off her shirt and wrote "Hungarians go back to the other side of the Danube" on it.
Mr Gyurcsany called on Slovak premier Robert Fico to condemn what he said was rising xenophobic and anti-Hungarian rhetoric in neighbouring Slovakia, and a series of "atrocities".
"The policy of silence must be finished. It is not enough to distance (himself from the events), Prime Minister Fico must clearly condemn all that has happened in the past months and what happened yesterday," Mr Gyurcsany said.
Hungary has summoned the Slovak ambassador and will hand over its requests in writing on Monday, Mr Gyurcsany said.
A Slovak police spokesman said the incident was being investigated as a robbery, adding it could have had a "nationalist" element.
The attack came at a time of rising tensions between Hungary and Slovakia, both ex-communist states who are now European Union members, after Fico's Smer party won June's election and allied itself with the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS).
Since the election there have been a series of incidents, ranging from the burning of a Hungarian flag by Slovaks in an internet video to Hungarian soccer supporters displaying banners saying "Jan Slota must die", referring to the SNS leader.
Mr Slota has frequently used anti-Hungarian and anti-gypsy rhetoric. Mr Fico has not commented on yesterday's incident or others.
"Some acts are beginning to create nationalist problems," Slovak Police President Jan Packa said on all news channel TA3.
About half a million ethnic Hungarians live in Slovakia which was part of Hungary until after World War I.
This is not an isolated incident, unfortunately.
I read and heard that in places like Slovakia and Romania Hungarians are attacked by nationalists.
Where is the UN Human Rights commission?
What's going on in Slovakia?
Where they always are. In NYC at the best restaurants at our expense.
My guess is jobs. Under SNS Slovakia's economy is getting worse. Shocking, eh, a socialist government hindering economic development?
What are Slovakia and Romania Hungarian 'nationalists'? muslim-islamist-arabs? Dunno...
Hardly any Muslims in either. Slovakia was traditionally mainly Catholic (like Hungary) and Romania Orthodox.
The treaty of the Petit Trianon at Versailles shrank Hungary's territory immensely, leaving many Hungarian majority areas adjacent to Hungary inside Romania or Slovakia. The Hungarians got the territory back temporarily in WWII with German assistance, then lost it again.
All three countries have politicians who manipulate nationalist sentiment over the issue.
NOT the Hungarians, SOME Slovacs and Romanians hate Hungarians and to the point of attacking them physically.
Would that be like the Baptists and Methodists brawling?
susie
Slovakia is a new member of the EU but is still on the Slovak currency. The exchange rate appears quite favorable to the Euro so that may be another means of attracting foreign investment. From what I understand with the new (old) socialist policies being enacted chances for new growth are diminishing rapidly. It almost sounded as if Slovakia was reverting to '70s-style Combloc socialism. The relative however is a foreign investment banker so she likely gave an overly pessimistic outlook. To hear her rant about socialists as "those stzhupid idiotsz" was amusing.
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