By the stroke of midnight at the turn of the old year 1992 and the new year 1993, the Slovak Republic was established as an independent and sovereign state. This happened after 74 years, two months and three days of the existence of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks. Many people did not like it at the time and did not agree with this decision of the politicians, but there were also those who welcomed this step. Among them is also the Czech actor and presenter Jan Kraus (72), who spoke about it for the portal.
“I am in favor of our splitting up because I think it has benefited us in our relations. Some people are so angry and say that Czechoslovakia was better. But no one can imagine what it would have been like if it had stayed. When the hyphen affair started, I thought to myself that we would never get over it.” said a native of Prague.
“I think that Czech-Slovak relations today are probably the best they’ve ever been. There were no complaints, you have it like in families, an older brother and the like… So it would never completely disappear, I am absolutely convinced of that. And at the same time, the solidarity of the two nations that have survived a lot together has not been lost. I don’t know if it will be possible to maintain it in the future,” added Kraus.
The establishment of the independent republics of the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic was preceded by the approval of the constitutional law on the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR). It was adopted by the Federal Assembly of the Czechoslovakia on November 25, 1992 and entered into force at midnight from December 31, 1992 to January 1, 1993.
A key turning point in the issue of federal arrangement occurred after 1989. In the years 1990 – 1992, numerous negotiations between Czechoslovak, Czech and Slovak politicians and state institutions took place about the division of Czechoslovakia. The disintegration of the CSFR accelerated after the parliamentary elections in 1992.
The winners of the June parliamentary elections in 1992 – the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) – showed a strong willingness to agree on the division of the federation. Already on July 17, 1992, the members of the Slovak National Council (SNR) approved the Declaration of the SNR on the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic. The representatives of HZDS and ODS reached a definitive decision on the timetable for the dissolution of ČSFR in August 1992 in Brno.
Subsequently, the Constitution of the Slovak Republic was adopted on September 1, 1992. After its entry into force on October 1, 1992, the Slovak National Council was renamed the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic (SR). The constitutional law on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia was also approved. The historically last meeting of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia ended on December 17, 1992. On January 1, 1993, a joint meeting of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic and the government took place, at which a declaration on the creation of an independent Slovak Republic was adopted.
