Slovakia

Liberal International convening from November 9-11th 2006 in Marrakech, Morocco,

The Congress:

• respects that Slovakia is a country rich in culture and pride, and that recent Slovakian Governments have made impressive achievements, including modernisation leading to membership of the European Union;

• is extremely impressed by the reforms imposed by former Slovakian governments that have made Slovakia one of the most impressive economies of the 10 new members of the European Union;

• respects former Slovakian Governments’ progress towards the treatment of minorities, including ethnic, sexual and other minorities in Slovakia;

• while acknowledging the election results, deeply worries about the nationalistic tendencies of the Slovak National Party (SNS) party and its invitation to join the coalition party;

• notes that not only the rhetoric and action of SNS party leader Jan Slota and his followers bear responsibility for the current situation, but also Prime Minister Robert Fico for inviting the SNS to participate in the government, thereby legitimising their intolerable ideas;

• calls on the Slovakian Government to ensure that an open democratic political climate be supported in accordance with the values of the European Union;

• recalls that Prime Minister Robert Fico claims that only acts, not words, can be criticised, yet words are of great concern because they lead to action, as is seen both in history and with recent examples of abuse;

• is deeply concerned with the increasing number of verbal insults, followed by physical attacks, against minority peoples in Slovakia since Jan Slota’s SNS government was invited to form the coalition;

• calls on the Slovakian Prime Minister to explicitly disassociate himself from the statements given by the party leader of his coalition partner;

• condemns the use of hate language by any political player, especially party leaders in the governing coalition;

• calls on the Slovakian Government to respect the rights of minorities and to take action for their protection as they are citizens of the country;

• concludes that the democratisation process in Central Europe cannot be considered irreversible yet; therefore

• calls on the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE to monitor the adherence of political and human rights of these minority groups, with special regards to the ethnic minorities including Hungarians, Roma and those of other minorities such as sexual minorities; and

• calls on the member states of the European Union not to accept and not to tolerate any violation of human rights or any form of hate speech, especially those coming from Government related political parties or individuals.