Slovak Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky met his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Szili and agreed that discussing sensitive topics like Trianon, the Benes Decrees or the Hungarian Status Law on parliamentary soil could overcome barriers between Slovakia and Hungary. Ms. Szili and Mr. Hrusovsky think that parliaments could continue discussions, which has frozen at the level of governments.

Mr. Hrusovsky handed over to Ms. Szili his New Year’s speech in parliament in which he marked the history of Slovakia and Hungary intertwined. He admitted that the principle of collective guilt was applied during the post-war deportations of Hungarians from Slovakia. He noted that Slovakia has already expressed its regret and he would welcome a similar step on part of Hungary.

Mr. Hrusovsky and Ms. Szili had their conversation after a meeting of speakers of parliaments of the Visegrad Group countries. Michal Dyttert, spokesman of Mr. Hrusovsky, said that parliamentary speakers agreed to cooperate within ratification processes prior to entering the European Union. Representatives of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will meet within the European Convention to discuss the prepared draft constitution of the European Union. They agreed to continue the V4 meeting while the next meeting will be held in Poland.