The Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič recieved the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Balazs.

Ivan Gašparovič is pleased that he could speak with the Foreign Minister openly about issues on which they do not share the same opinions.
The Minister informed the President of the intentions of the new government in Budapest, which plans to adopt radical measures deemed necessary for the recovery of the Hungarian economy.

“We would like to open a completely new chapter in our cooperation with Slovakia. The timing to start a new cooperation was never as good as it is now. We would like to continue in all that is positive and forget the negative,” the Hungarian Minister said. At the same time, Peter Balazs pledged to Ivan Gašparovič that Hungarian diplomacy tries to see Slovakia as a “good friend” and any statements saying otherwise will be denounced by the Hungarian administration.
At the meeting the Slovak President said that, based on the history of relations between Slovakia and Hungary, we should very well know which values to keep on preserving in the future. “The Slovak Republic will always react strongly against those who incite national and ethnic intolerance or extremism in society,” Ivan Gašparovič said at the meeting.

The Slovak President is convinced that the condemning of such extremist groups will contribute to the improvement of relations between Slovakia and Hungary, as well as to the general improvement of the situation in this European region. The Slovak President emphasised that his decision not to sign and return the amendment to the School Act on “bilingual text books” was interpreted by the Hungarian media incorrectly.” I have always been an advocate of bilingualism, however, it must be in compliance with the Constitution and laws of the Slovak Republic,” the President said, adding that the Act submitted in this form was inapplicable.