The parliamentary foreign affairs committee drafted an objection to Hungary's law on ethnic Hungarians living in foreign countries on December 18, calling it "an infraction of international law and interference with the domestic legal integrity of Slovakia". The law, which gives certain financial and cultural advantages to Hungarians living abroad, including the almost 500,000 Hungarians living in Slovakia, has been a thorn in relations between Bratislava and Budapest since it was passed in June. It is to take effect on January 1, 2002, although the European Union has advised it will have to be cancelled when Hungary joins the 15-member bloc.
22. Dec 2001 at 0:00 | From press reports of TASR and SITA
