Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke on the phone with the winner Péter Magyar for the first time since the Hungarian elections, and they immediately opened up about one of the most sensitive topics between Bratislava and Budapest – the Beneš decrees. They turned out to be the main point of the conversation, which both of them described as constructive, but at the same time confirmed fundamental differences in attitudes.
The future Hungarian Prime Minister reported on the conversation on social networks and indicated that the issue of Beneš’s decrees will be crucial for his government. This is a topic that he has long termed as a burning problem in the relations between Slovakia and Hungary, while he announced its solution already during the campaign. The dispute escalated even after the government of Robert Fico introduced the questioning of Beneš’s decrees as a crime. This already caused a dispute between him and the Slovak government during Magyar’s campaign. Magyar conditioned any cooperation with Slovakia, on a change by Robert Fico, against punishments for questioning Beneš’s decrees.
In his status, Fico emphasized the more practical level of cooperation when he stated that he wants to continue cooperation with Hungary on energy security. At the same time, Fico invited Magyar to an official visit to Slovakia. Fico admitted that it was clear from the conversation that Péter Magyar’s priority is the Beneš decrees, where, according to Fico, “we have fundamentally different positions”.
This is the first direct contact between the two politicians since the election. Unlike Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk or Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Fico was not among the leaders who congratulated Magyar immediately after his victory. Relations between Fico and Magyar are thus already accompanied by disputes over historical issues.
Phone call after the dispute: Magyar accused Orbán of helping Fico
The phone call last week was preceded by Magyar’s accusation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán that, at Fico’s request, during the 2023 campaign, he worsened the migration situation by moving migrants to the Slovak-Hungarian border. “We will not transport migrants to the Slovak border when it is required by the interest of our social friend in the election campaign,” he said.
Fico rejected these claims as false and announced that he would ask for an explanation at a personal meeting. However, former Prime Minister Ľudovít Ódor said that already during the tenure of the caretaker government, they had information from the secret services that the situation could have been organized. However, they did not have the evidence.
Magyar has been pushing for Beneš’s decrees since the campaign
At the same time, Péter Magyar announced the dispute over Beneš’s decrees already during the campaign and gradually intensified it even after the elections. In an open letter to President Petr Pellegrini, he criticized not only the historical principle of collective guilt, but also the current legislation, which, according to him, introduces punishments for questioning them. “Legislation based on collective guilt has no place in the 21st century,” he said, adding that neither Hungary nor Europe should accept possible asset confiscations based on these decrees.
The tension was also increased by the verbal exchange surrounding the sign “Felvidék”. Pellegrini called it insulting, while Magyar responded that it is a historical name that he has used since childhood, just as they traditionally refer to Bratislava as Pozsony. At the same time, he emphasized that the Slovak president has a “duty to represent all citizens, including the Hungarian minority,” and he himself has a duty to “stand up for all Hungarians, regardless of where they live.”
