Jozef Migaš

Slovak state, political and diplomatic figure. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Slovakia to Moscow and Kiev. A Speaker of National Council of the Slovak Republic from 1998 to 2002.

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Josef Migash belittles the importance of the Armenian Genocide

Tomorrow, with a one-day official visit, a delegation of the Foreign Ministry of Slovakia, headed by Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, will arrive in Armenia.

As a part of the regional visit, the delegation of the Foreign Ministry of Slovakia has already visited Georgia and, having spent a day in Armenia, will go to Azerbaijan. Jozef Migaš, Slovakian Ambassador to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is also among the delegation members.

As you know, Josef Migash is the only official in Slovakia who stated that Slovakia has no law criminalizing the denial of Armenian Genocide.

Even after the Chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE), Ashot Grigoryan addressed a letter to Migash to the embassy in Moscow, pointing to Article 424a of the Slovakian Criminal Code, according to which criminal responsibility is established for the denial of the Holocaust, genocides, crimes of fascism and communism and crimes against humanity, Ambassador Josef Migash did not react to this fact and didn’t say anything.

In fact, the Armenian Genocide, which was recognized by Slovakia in 2004 by #1334 resolution, fully corresponds to article 424a of the Criminal Code of Slovakia. 

On April 9, the Armenian media have a good opportunity to address the Ambassador Migash and Foreign Minister Miroslav Laykach and demand explanations on the law on what basis this law is lurking, and this is when the head of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, Stefan Garabin, both in Bratislava and St. Petersburg, as well as in Yerevan stated that the above-mentioned article is intended to supplement the current law on the denial of the Holocaust, especially in the area of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.

The chairman of the FAAE and the Armenian community of Slovakia, Ashot Grigoryan, has initiated the institution of a criminal case against Ambassador Migash for his responses to the Azeri side’s requests for the Armenian Genocide, by which he downgrades the crime committed against Armenians.

Thus, during a press conference on April 9, there is an opportunity to find out whose interests Josef Migash serves when he disseminates false information about the existence of a law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide. This is reported by the press service of the FAAE.

Source: a1plus.am

Slovakia’s Armenians demand to Initiate a Criminal Case against the Ambassador of Slovakia to Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
Slovakia’s Armenian community representatives addressed the public prosecutor’s office with a statement urging for instigation of a criminal case against Slovakia’s ambassador to Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and Slovakia’s former parliamentary speaker Josef Migash. The embassy’s statement addressed to Azerbaijani media, claiming that Slovakia lacked a law criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial served a reason for the step.
“Slovakia’s ambassador to Moscow Josef Migash confirmed the information during his official meeting with Armenia’s envoy to Russia Oleg Yesayan,” president of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE) Ashot Grigoryan’s statement to Slovakia’s prosecutor’s office reads.
According to Mr. Grigoryan, Armenian Genocide denial is criminalized in Slovakia under paragraph 424a of the Penal Code, with Slovakia’s Supreme Court Chairman Štefan Harabin confirming his point.
Slovakia’s embassy in Moscow declined to comment on the measures taken by FAAE head.
“The embassy bases its stance on state institutions’ official standpoint,” representative of an embassy in Russia Martin Kacho said.
In November, 2011, Armenian media released publications on the Slovakian law penalizing Armenian Genocide denial, citing Slovakia’s Supreme Council chairman Stefan Harabin’s statement. In response to the outlets, Azerbaijan published the statement of Slovakia’s embassy in Russia, denying the existence of such a law.
“Under the paragraph 424a of Slovakia’s Penal Code, denial of the Armenian Genocide is criminalized along with the Holocaust negating expressions,” Mr. Harabin told a SITA. Agency, noting Slovakia as the only country in the EU to criminalize denial of Armenian Genocide.
Source: panarmenian.net
The Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe demands the initiation of a criminal case against the Ambassador of Slovakia for the pro-Azerbaijani policy

Ashot Grigoryan, the Chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE), appealed to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Slovakia with a second complaint, submitting his suspicions that the Ambassador of Slovakia to Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia Josef Migash, distorts the facts for mercenary motives and conducts pro-Azerbaijani policy. As stated in the statement of the press service of the Forum, A. Grigoryan demands the initiation of a criminal case against the ambassador.

According to the publications of the Azerbaijani press, Ambassador Migash always spoke negatively of events organized by the chairman of the FAAE and the Armenian community of Slovakia Ashot Grigoryan, aimed at developing the Armenian-Slovak economic relations, if the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic also participated in them. The reaction of the embassy to the congratulatory messages of the former chairman of the Slovak National Council Frantisek Mikloshko and former Prime Minister Jan Czarnoghursk on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the independence of the NKR is incomprehensible and strange. On behalf of the embassy, ​​statements were published in the Azerbaijani press with a refutation of the posts of the above-mentioned individuals. The embassy did not stood up for the honor of the Slovak figures, and only Regnum Agency wrote the article “Who and what refutes the Embassy of Slovakia to Moscow”, representing the falsity of the Azerbaijani media.

However, the peak of the suspicious activity of Ambassador Migash is the law already passed for two years in Slovakia against the denial of genocides, which was adopted for the approval of the Security Council of Slovakia of the resolution on the Armenian Genocide and around which Mr. Migash issued a statement denying the fact of its existence. Moreover, when on behalf of the FAAE and the Armenian community of Slovakia appealed to Ambassador Mr. Migash, demanding a comment, they did not receive any reply.

Naturally, the ambassador could not answer anything, because this law can not be given any other comment. Thus, analyzing the behavior of the ambassador, one can come to a conclusion about his bias. Taking into account the actions of the Turkish Ambassador to Slovakia, Ms. Gulhan Ulotekin, against whom the FAAE already filed a suit to initiate criminal proceedings, as well as the close relations of Ambassador Migash with Azerbaijani figures in the sphere of economy and politics, it is clear that in this issue Turkish mediation and Azerbaijani petrodollars have made their black matter, and this is not just an assumption, but the result of an analysis of the numerous suspicious steps of the ambassador. Now the General Prosecutor’s Office of Slovakia must decide whether there are all the necessary grounds for initiating a criminal case against Migash on suspicion of corruption.

The FAAE has already received a positive response from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Slovakia regarding the initiation of a criminal case against Turkish Ambassador Gulkhan Ulutekin, and the case is taken to investigative proceedings. The FAAE does not doubt that this issue will be accepted for consideration and will receive an objective assessment by the state bodies of Slovakia.

Source: panorama.am