Slovak Deputy PM Says No New Property Confiscations Under Benes Decrees

Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák stated that his government is not aware of any cases involving property confiscation based on the Benes Decrees, emphasizing that the administration respects the current status quo on the issue. Kaliňák made the comments while discussing Slovak-Hungarian relations, which he described as the best they have been in 1,000 years. He indicated that future bilateral ties will depend on Hungary's new leadership. The Benes Decrees were post-World War II presidential decrees issued by Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš that led to the confiscation of property and expulsion of ethnic Germans and Hungarians from Czechoslovakia. The decrees remain a sensitive diplomatic issue between Slovakia and Hungary, as they affected hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians who lived in what is now southern Slovakia. The Hungarian minority constitutes about 8% of Slovakia's population and maintains significant political representation through the Alliance party.