Rasi Discusses Slovak Centre and Polls in Budapest

Budapest/Bratislava, 27 February (TASR-correspondent) - House chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) met in Budapest on Friday with the parliamentary spokesperson for ethnic Slovaks living in Hungary, Anton Paulik, and the chair of the National Slovak Self-Government in Hungary, Alzbeta Hollerova Rackova, TASR learnt from its correspondent on the same day. Their talks focused on the Slovak cultural centre in the Hungarian capital and the upcoming parliamentary elections in Hungary. The meeting with representatives of the Slovak minority in Hungary took place on the sidelines of the 12th conference of parliamentary heads of Southeast European countries, attended by the parliamentary leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) states. "I will take information home and I believe we will bring money from home, because what interested me was the Slovak cultural centre, the former Evangelical church that we acquired. The Hungarian side contributed financially, and so did the Slovak side," Rasi said, adding that additional funding is needed. Rasi expressed hope that the Slovak government would allocate funds to complete the reconstruction of the former church on Rakoczi Avenue in Budapest so that it can serve all ethnic Slovaks living in Hungary. Rasi welcomed what he described as the "very pragmatic approach" of the parliamentary spokesperson for Slovaks in Hungary and the chair of the National Slovak Self-Government regarding the April elections. He explained that they will accept the election results and that their partner will be the new government. "Therefore, they are not interfering in the elections in any way, and our Slovak community is not addressing the elections either. They are trying to keep this election campaign separate from their activities, because politics not only unites but above all divides," the House chair said. Rasi added that the Slovak community in Hungary needs legislative, spiritual and financial support. After the meeting, Hollerova Rackova said they had discussed issues raised at their previous meeting as well as the impact of the Hungarian parliamentary elections on the local Slovak community. "We agreed that as a national self-government working to unite our community in pursuit of common goals, we seek not to participate in political rivalry. Of course, the main partner of our self-government is the government, both in Hungary and in Slovakia," she said. mf