1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections

Hungary/Slovakia: Worthless Passports

June 29, 2010

Relations between Hungary and Slovakia are strained. The government in Budapest is offering passports to members of Slovakia's ethnic Hungarian minority - to the outrage of Bratislava.

https://p.dw.com/p/O30U
Image: DW-TV
Ungarn - designierter Regierungschef Viktor Orban / FIDESZ
Image: AP
In a no-holds-barred move, Hungary's new conservative-populist prime minister Viktor Orban has allowed ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia to apply for Hungarian passports - without informing the Slovak government beforehand. As expected, the Slovaks have reacted aggressively, threatening to strip ethnic Hungarians who take up the offer of their Slovak citizenship. Yet the whole purpose of the passports appears senseless. Not only will these people not enjoy voting rights in Hungary; they will also have no claim to welfare benefits there.