AN AMENDED draft version of a Hungarian status law in Budapest was rejected by Slovak PM Mikuláš Dzurinda who said Slovakia still objected to the concept of the law, which gives advantages to Hungarians living in foreign countries. Slovakia believes this law interferes with Slovak sovereignty.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy was said to have been surprised by the Slovak rejection, as Budapest had already changed parts of the draft in line with Bratislava's concerns.
It is uncertain whether the Hungarian parliament will now go ahead with passage of the bill in December as planned.
2. Dec 2002 at 0:00 | From press reports of TASR and SITA