Magyar Raises Benes Decrees, Drawing Sharp Czech Reaction

After his election victory, Hungarian politician Peter Magyar raised the sensitive issue of the Benes decrees, arguing they have no place in the EU legal framework.

The decrees are post-war measures that affected ethnic Germans and, to a lesser extent, Hungarians, including property confiscations and loss of rights.

The issue is also linked to land disputes in Slovakia, where the state is dealing with unresolved post-war confiscations of property belonging to the Hungarian minority. The dispute escalated last December with the approval of an amendment to the criminal code introducing a new offence of denying or questioning the post-war settlement.

Czech politicians responded to the remarks. House Speaker Tomio Okamura said reopening the decrees was unacceptable to both Prague and Bratislava, although he did not rule out cooperation on other issues.

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka described Magyar’s remarks as "toxic" and said the Czech Republic would monitor developments closely.

(pir)