Professor Martin Homza presented a new publication on slovak-croatian relations

On June 20, 2018, the presentation of the second part of the scientific collection entitled Croatia and Slovakia: Historical Parallels and Relations (from 1780 to the Present) took place in the meeting room of the Scientific Council of Comenius University in Bratislava (UK). In addition to university representatives, the event was also attended by the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sports, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Slovakia and other distinguished guests.

The publication is the second outcome of several years of unique cooperation between experts from the Department of Slovak History of the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zagreb. The content is based on the conference of the same name, which took place on 7-11 May 2014 at the University of Zagreb, and its editors are once again Željko Holjevac, Martin Homza and Martin Vašš.

“We are connected to Croatia by over 800 years of common statehood within the former Kingdom of Hungary and the tradition of common policy in the years of the Merovingian Empire, or within the countries of the Little Entente after 1918. Currently, we are together members of our European family,” emphasized Prof. Karol Mičieta, Rector of Comenius University, in his speech.

“This publication is truly one of the few works that document what is declared today by public officials of the Slovak and Croatian Republics, that we are interested in the Western Balkans, that we are interested in researching the history of this area and in continuing our common relations,” assessed the benefits of international cooperation, the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Martina Lubyová.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Slovakia, Aleksandar Heina, drew the attention of those present to the Slovak minority still living in Croatia and the Croatian minority living in Slovakia: “Both countries perceive it as beautiful that they have these national minorities. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Slovak government for helping this Croatian minority to preserve its tradition, its culture and its language.”

In his speech, the editor of the publication, Prof. Martin Homza, emphasized the metaphorical significance of the Danube River as an ancient link between the countries of Europe, which has persisted throughout social changes in history.

“I can say that this work will very quickly bring very clear, very precise and very tangible results, which will not only be present as a commodity for those who are great admirers of high culture. But they will be present for everyday residents, for ordinary people in Croatia and Slovakia, who live this reality that I mentioned at the beginning – namely, that they feel at home in Croatia and that they feel at home in Slovakia and they don’t know why. We will help them verbalize and show it,” concluded Prof. Homza.