President: Minorities still fail to receive adequate recognition and respect

Representatives of ethnic minorities form an integral part of Slovakia's modern history, its effort to cultivate democracy and firm up integration within the European structures, which is why the minorities deserve more political interest in the passing of legislation to preserve and cultivate their culture and identity, President Zuzana Caputova declared after her Tuesday meeting with representatives of ethnic minorities in Slovakia.
"Credit for all positive changes in the history of modern Slovakia goes also to the ethnic minorities that you represent here today," Caputova told the meeting participants and conceded that the minorities still fail to receive adequate recognition and respect.
"We still witness political efforts to assign collective blame to minorities. We must put more emphasis on the economic development of regions and also exercise language and cultural rights of national minorities more consistently," said Caputova and criticised the lack of political will to "openly discuss a minority bill with minorities". (TASR)