Hungarians have been using these lands illegally since 1945 – Slovak deputy PM says

Speaking on Slovak public radio Wednesday evening, Robert Kaliňák, Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak government stated that there is no confiscation involved in relation to the Beneš Decrees; rather, the Slovak Land Fund is merely reclaiming the land that has rightfully belonged to it since 1945, according to Ma7, which cited the radio broadcast.

Kaliňák claimed that land he believes belongs to the Slovak state is currently being used illegally by others. According to Ma7’s translation, the Slovak vice president said: “Explain to me how the Beneš Decrees can confiscate someone’s property. There is no way. This is only about the Land Fund claiming the property that has belonged to it since 1945, which is being used by someone else in violation of the law.”

The Slovak government has never before taken such a strong stance on the Beneš Decrees.

The issue of the Beneš Decrees, which discriminate against the Hungarians living in Slovakia, has become a sore point there in recent times. Last December, the President of the Slovak Republic signed a law imposing a six-month prison sentence on anyone who questions the Beneš Decrees. These were issued after World War II, when the Czechoslovak state applied the principle of collective guilt to the Hungarian and German residents living within its borders, in many cases depriving them of their property, personal belongings, and homes. To this day, the decrees, which have been elevated to the force of law, remain the unshakable foundation of the Czech and Slovak constitutional order, despite the fact that they would no longer stand up to the scrutiny of human rights standards. The decrees became a topic of current debate after the Slovak government invoked them to expropriate land and properties for the construction of highways,among other things.

Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had already held talks with the Slovak government about the new legislation in mid-December, but there had been no progress on the matter. Fidesz approached the issue cautiously due to its close relationship with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Péter Magyar, however, was particularly active on the matter even before his election victory; in fact, he said that he would have expelled the Slovak ambassador from Hungary, and the politician was also present at the protest held in front of the Slovak embassy. This confrontation came at just the right time for Magyar, as it brought Hungary—led by the Tisza government—closer to Hungarians living in neighbouring countries, but distanced it further from the Slovak government. Before the elections, Fico said he supported Orbán because we would “find ourselves on thin ice” in terms of Hungarian-Slovak relations if the Tisza Party were to fulfill its promises regarding the Beneš Decrees.