Martonyi on Hungary's Foreign Policy Towards Slovakia

Created: 1st September, 2009 10:05	print	send

The former foreign minister of Orbán's centre-right Fidesz government (1998-2002) said the Hungarian political elite "was probably surprised by the news of Slovakia stopping the Hungarian president from entering the country on 21st August". He added that a common political response had been lacking and a clearer and more categorical reaction would have been needed. The former foreign minister said he kept to his habit of not criticizing Hungary's diplomacy but he believed the response to the Slovak government's action was timid, slow, hesitative and weak.

"Had Hungary recalled its ambassador in Bratislava for consultation on that very day, it would have been a tough response to the Slovak action and today Mr Antal Heizer could have returned to Slovakia to reengage in a dialogue with the aim of starting a détente process", said Martonyi. This would have served both as a gesture and a message not only to the Slovak people but to Central Europe and the entire EU, he added, demonstrating that the Hungarian government wished to engage in a dialogue by all means, including bilateral.

Speaking about the preparations within Fidesz, the former foreign minister said the party would begin elaborating its foreign policy strategy this fall and the document would serve as a base for the party's election manifesto. Martonyi qualified the article appearing in the Magyar Nemzet daily hinting that he was the official Fidesz candidate for foreign minister as "speculation", recalling that the opposition party had a strict policy of not giving out positions a priori.