OPINION:
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels through Central Europe after the Munich Security Conference, he will stop in Slovakia, a NATO ally, where freedom of expression is under pressure.
In December, I wrote in these pages about Slovakia’s renewed use of the post-World War II Benes decrees to confiscate land on ethnic grounds. Ethnic Germans and Hungarians have been stripped of citizenship and property under the doctrine of collective guilt.
Slovak governments long described the Benes decrees as “dead law.” They are not. Land is still being confiscated today based on ancestry, as the state retroactively registers itself as the owner of properties tied to wartime-era classifications.
Instead of addressing the controversy, the government has chosen to criminalize criticism. Slovakia has amended its criminal code to make it punishable by up to six months in prison to publicly “question” the legal settlement stemming from those decrees.
The consequences are already visible. On Jan. 30 in Bratislava, police escorted away Ors Orosz, a politician representing Slovakia’s Hungarian minority, from a peaceful demonstration because he refused to remove a vest reading, “I question the Benes Decrees.”
Mr. Orosz was later released, but the message was clear: Even peaceful dissent can trigger police intervention.
This matters to the United States. The U.S. National Security Strategy commits Washington to opposing anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, especially among allies. That commitment should apply when a NATO member threatens prison time for political speech questioning ethnic discrimination and property seizures.
Property rights and free speech are intertwined. A government willing to confiscate land based on ancestry and silence those who protest it is eroding both.
As Mr. Rubio meets with Slovak leaders, the question is simple: Will America raise concerns about liberty with allies as readily as with adversaries?
If American commitments mean anything, then they must apply consistently, including in Bratislava.
BALAZS TARNOK
Foreign policy expert, Hungarian Alliance
Izsa, Slovakia
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