The Hungarian government was disappointed to learn about the Slovak Constitutional Court’s decision to reject, on formal grounds, a request for a constitutional review of Slovakia’s citizenship law, Zsolt Semjén, deputy prime minister for Hungarian communities abroad, said.

Semjén noted in a statement that anyone who takes up citizenship of another country in Slovakia automatically loses his or her Slovak citizenship.

He added that the Czech Republic, by contrast, had approved a law on Jan. 1, allowing dual citizenship.

Slovakia’s law, seen by many as a response to Hungary making citizenship available to a broader scope of people, in practice penalises Slovaks with citizenships other than Hungarian, he said.

“Consequently the law goes against the interests of not only Hungarians but also against other countries’ citizens.” Jobbik’s deputy leader István Szávay said the ruling proved “for the umpteenth time that Slovakia is not a rule of law, and does not ensure even fundamental human or minority rights to its citizens of a different ethnicity”.

Szávay insisted that the Hungarian government, which he said had failed to exert any pressure on Slovakia in recent years, was also responsible for the situation.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Koszticsák Szilárd