The first official trip of foreign affairs minister Mikulas Dzurinda to Hungary on Monday could lead to concrete results to ease the strained relations experienced by the two countries in the past few years.
After his meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi, Dzurinda stated that the two countries wanted more new bridges, and not just physical ones. The two officials agreed to recharge the 12 Slovak-Hungarian commissions that exist for dealing with key issues in the bumpy relations between the two countries.
After the meeting, Martonyi underscored how the countries were “thinking positively about the future and what could be done to help smooth out potentially delicate situations”. In this regard, the two men also announced a special ‘early’warning’ system, which refers to mutual communication on issues that could be sensitive.
While in Budapest, Dzurinda also met with President Pal Schmitt, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Parliamentary Chairman, Laszlo Kover.
With President Schmitt they spoke about mutual co-operation as a way of resolving open issues. The Hungarian President expressed his appreciation of the new Slovak government’s efforts to revise the State Language Act, among other things.
The two countries will also be dealing with the problem of dual citizenship, and the respective laws passed in both countries. Dzurinda is currently working on the new revision of the law with interior minister Daniel Lipsic.