BRATISLAVA, August 6, (WEBNOVINY)- The Interior Ministry failed to create a mechanism apart from sending mails to uncover possible Hungarian citizenship of Slovak citizens, says SNS First Deputy Chairman Andrej Danko. His party turned to the Interior Ministry on April 16 to inquire whether SMK Chairman Jozsef Berenyi was still a citizen of the Slovak Republic, when the party’s congress reelected him as its chairman. If Berenyi was not a Slovak citizen at the time of the reelection, he could not have become the chairman of SMK. Slovakia has recently adopted a law which automatically strips Slovak citizens who based on their own will become citizens of another country of their Slovak citizenship, in response to the new Hungarian citizenship law, which allows ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries to receive Hungarian citizenship. Berenyi announced he would apply for Hungarian citizenship as early as January 1, the date when the Hungarian law on state citizenship took force
“Berenyi has not yet denied being a citizen of the Hungarian Republic. The ministry asked citizen Berenyi twice about his citizenship but it does not have any mechanism except for sending such mails to disclose the reality and be able to solve the matter in line with Slovak laws,“ said Danko.
The SNS is protesting against such lax attitude and urges Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic (KDH) to instantly create the mechanism. His ministry, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, given their excellent relations with Hungarian political representatives should demand from Budapest a concrete list of Slovak citizens who have been awarded Hungarian citizenship, the party says. The SNS alleges that foreign state citizens might currently be in senior state posts, at prosecutor offices, at town halls, etc. It is therefore concerned that not only legal regulations of the Slovak Republic have been gravely violated but also information that are classified as a state secret has been endangered.
SITA