Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom met his Slovak counterpart Ivan Gasparovic Saturday in the latest bid to defuse growing tension between their countries, according to DPA. "The talks were open, constructive, and we discussed all the sensitive issues. We agreed that the current political tension is the work of of extremists on both sides," said Solyom at a joint press conference after the meeting in the Slovak town of Nove Zamky Solyom dismissed the idea that Hungary has designs on Slovak land. "It is part of the basic contract between Slovakia and Hungary that each respects today's national border, and neither makes any claim on the other's territory," said Solyom. The far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), part of the governing coalition, accused Hungary a week ago of destabilising the region with its hopes of regaining long lost territory. "Hungarians are clearly preoccupied with thoughts of a Greater Hungary," said SNS head Jan Slota, who in the past has described the half-million strong Hungarian minority as a "cancer in the body of the Slovak nation". Gasparovic said the summit with Solyom sent out a positive message, and called on the mayors of border towns with mixed Slovak and Hungarian populations to formulate joint agreements for peaceful cooperation. However, he rejected the Hungarian president's idea for a minority rights ombudsman, saying ethnic minorities are adequately protected under existing Slovak law. A call for Slovakia to enact new minority rights legislation was also brushed off. "The Slovak president has no powers that would make it possible to propose legislation in parliament," said Gasparovic.
