Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič today summoned the Ambassador of Hungary to the Slovak Republic Antal Heizer to the Presidential Palace. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák took part in the consultation as well.

Through Antal Heizer, the Slovak President asked President Laszlo Solyom to reconsider his recent trip to Komárno. “I passed my concerns on to Mr. Heizer, particularly due to the way this trip was planned, as well as to potential consequences on future relations between Hungary and Slovakia and the trip’s result, which may affect relations in Central Europe in a negative way," the President said after the meeting with the Ambassador. He also mentioned that he had asked Mr. Haizer to inform President Solyom of the concerns related to his upcoming trip to Slovakia.

“I asked the Hungarian President to reconsider his trip in order to avoid any negative development in relations between our countries. I would appreciate it if Mr. Solyom were to take my message seriously," Gašparovič added.

As the President stated, "In case the Hungarian President refuses to accept my message, my opinion, I will perceive it as an effort to provoke a disturbance that would have negative consequences. Therefore, I am convinced that his decision will be important for the stability and success of future cooperation between our countries.”

The President said that Hungary would soon take over the EU presidency and he could not imagine how mutual relations would be managed after that. "I firmly believe that the Hungarian President will also take this fact into consideration and decide not to travel to Slovakia," Ivan Gašparovič said. He is convinced that since Solyom will speak to the public and meet with representatives of towns and political parties, his trip cannot be considered a private matter. "It is proof that he is following a certain goal and that is not a good thing. The Hungarian President has also paid such visits to other countries of the former Kingdom of Hungary, which suggests what they mean," the President pointed out.

The Slovak President also repeated that he did not like the day of the visit – 21 August, as “it was a traumatic and dark day in the history of Czechoslovakia".

The Hungarian President was invited to today’s unveiling of the statue of St. Stephan by Komárno Mayor Tibor Bastrnák. Laszlo Solyom announced that his trip to Slovakia would be a private matter.

Three top government officials of Slovakia issued a statement on Wednesday, stating that the visit of the Hungarian President on 21 August 2009 to Komárno is a provocation and Laszlo Solyom is not welcome in Slovakia on this day. With respect to this matter, the Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák invited ambassadors of EU Member States for a consultation.