The new Hungarian party pulled out Beneš’s decrees: They want to talk about the past! Clear words Korcoka – Topky.sk

The chairman of the party, which was formed by the merger of SMK, Mosta-Híd and Cooperation, Krisztián Forró opened the topic at Saturday’s founding assembly in Šamorín. The vision is clear – a change in Beneš’s decrees, documents that have created tension in Slovak-Hungarian relations for decades.

Forró pointed out that the decrees mentioned the collective guilt of the Hungarians. “We must wash the seal of war crimes from our community. Thanks to Beneš’s decrees, my children are war criminals. I insist that this part of Beneš’s decrees be put in order.” he stated in his speech.

We will not change the past, but we can discuss it

According to him, the post-war period is one of the most difficult in the history of Hungarians in Slovakia due to the decrees. “President Beneš issued 143 decrees, and we are talking about 13 of them,” explained Forró for Topky.sk. According to him, the most serious consequences were the 33rd Regulation, under which their grandparents and parents were automatically deprived of citizenship and property and many were deported. “We won’t change the past, but we can and must discuss it. If we don’t, the past will always catch up with us.” claims.

Source: TASR /

According to him, we should close historical wrongs as soon as possible so that they do not burden us. “The Alliance declares that this can only be done by a general consensus of stakeholders and does not prevent experts from addressing the issue. Based on Slovakia’s official position on the basis of decrees, no one can lose their assets at present. Nevertheless, proceedings are still ongoing – retroactive confiscations of private property, “ He stated that if it were really historical documents, the Slovak Land Fund could not refer to Beneš’s decrees when expropriating land under the D4 motorway. “Therefore, we think that in addition to historians, they should also be cared for by lawyers. So that no one can lose their property by additional implementation of Beneš’s decrees.” he said.

“Satisfaction can take many forms. Legislative and moral. Our role is to find support and political will for both of us.” added Forró.

Source: TASR / Dano Veselský

A living past?

The fact that Beneš’s decrees, which spoke of the collective guilt of the Hungarians and the confiscation of their property, are a sensitive topic in the hall is also evidenced by cases from the recent past.

Last year, Juraj Gyimesi, a member of the OĽaNO government party, spoke about the expropriation of land under D4 / R7. The national highway company did not want to buy land under the road, even though it had already been built. According to lawyer Tomáš Planek, who represented the affected landowners, this was caused by the Slovak Land Fund, which blocked the purchase of land, stating that it was land that had been burdened by confiscation in the past.

Source: D4R7

The uproar was also caused by a case in which a Hungarian citizen was sued by Lesy SR for 36 hectares of forest in the Bardejov district, because according to them his ancestor was apparently of Hungarian nationality, and so in the past, in 1946, they were to be confiscated. The case did not reach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where Slovakia lost the dispute.

Source: TASR / Martin Baumann

A question for historians

However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Korčok (SaS nominee) openly rejected the words about crime and collective guilt. “I would like to remind you that in 2007, when the National Council of the Slovak Republic adopted a declaration on the immutability of Beneš’s decrees, it was a reaction to something at the time, but at the same time we also condemned the principle of collective guilt.” he said after this week’s meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó.

“We don’t want to forget or erase history, but my appeal is to deal with differences responsibly when looking at our history, so that passions and emotions are not mobilized, because they are always present from lived history,” said Korčok, who suggests that these issues be tried to be placed in the hands of those called upon and those who have no political motivation, that is, the platform of historians.

Szijjártó, on the other hand, remarked that every historical event is diametrically different in every nation, and what is tragedy for one may not be so for another. According to him, it is necessary to accept and respect the feelings of the other. He also recalled that the decrees do not currently have legal effect.

Currently, the problem is the million dollar fund

In connection with Hungary, Slovakia is currently solving the problem of purchasing land through a fund established by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The money is to be used to buy arable land in Central and Eastern Europe. Minister Korček, who was concerned about the situation, has already announced that the Ministry of Diplomacy, in cooperation with the relevant ministries, has initiated proposals for legislative changes concerning the acquisition of ownership of real estate by foreign states. The opposition party Smer-SD wants to convene an extraordinary session of parliament due to possible land acquisition.