Minister Korčok: Hungary is unusually buying buildings from us (interview) – Aktuality.sk

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has given up on you and the Hungarian government will not buy Slovak land. How did this problem come about?

Firstly, Slovakia and Hungary are not in conflict. The exact opposite. My goal is to talk about things so that they don’t sour and swell. Because then they will become bigger and there will be a problem.

Secondly, I get the question why now. The only reason is that after the diplomatic or working level we communicated for a very long time, but solutions did not come. I see this as an important moment when politicians have to step in. I did this by inviting the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs. There is no politicking, it has no domestic political motivation.

You can watch the interview with Ivan Korčok in the show Na rovinu:

Thirdly, I do not ask our Hungarian partners for any above-standard standards. On the contrary, I ask what is usual between states – to inform about what they do in the territory of another state. It is all driven by one interest and that is to have good relations with Hungary.

I note that the Hungarian side has repealed its own legislation to buy land. I do not consider it a victory, because we are not in conflict or in competition. This confirms that the Slovak Republic has put a relevant topic on the table.

The Hungarian side reacts pragmatically, we communicate together. And the first decision to repeal the legislation on the purchase of land has already come.

Is that enough? They can not only buy land, but also real estate. They have already bought 3 houses in Košice, including the former building of our Constitutional Court. Do you know what it will be for them?

I don’t know and that’s why I asked. By virtue of being the Minister of Foreign Affairs – I do not deal with land or churches or buildings, but with relations between states.

We learn from the media that the government of another state is allocating public resources to buy land in Slovakia and that churches are being repaired here. At such a moment – when I see that it deviates from the standard – it is my duty to ask about it.

You can listen to the whole interview in podcast form here:

There are certain standards that have not been met. Citizens write to me, politicians and the media ask me how it is possible that another state is buying buildings – not only the Košice consulate, but also the one in Banská Bystrica. Yes, they have a consulate there, but I find out about it from the media.

You mentioned that there should be a consulate in one of those buildings in Košice. Is this something you as a ministry cannot allow? Do you need to know about it in advance?

It is a normal procedure that Hungary also applied when buying its building in Bratislava. We did not find out about it from the media. The country that is buying for embassy purposes will send a diplomatic note and say – we are interested in buying this building because we are going to set up our embassy in it.

But that has not happened in Košice now. Why? How do you explain that?

I do not know, which is why I am asking our Hungarian colleagues. That is also why diplomatic communication is taking place after our negotiations with Minister Péter Szijjártó. I can say that I subsequently turned to our Hungarian colleagues with a diplomatic note and asked what other real estate they own in Slovakia.

Did they answer you too?