Post by pieter on Aug 5, 2010 16:12:18 GMT -7
Slovakia and Hungary: Neighbours not friends
Slovakia's voters went to the polls this weekend for the fifth time since it became a nation in 1993.
However for it's southern neighbour Hungary, which recently held elections of its own, the political flavour of Slovakia's next government is a matter of some significance.
Relations between the two countries have become increasingly tense in the past few years.
Slovakia has a sizeable ethnic Hungarian community and grievances about perceived discrimination at the hands of the authorities have been growing.
Add to that a controversial recent decision from Budapest to offer citizenship to Hungarians living abroad, and the increasing influence of far right nationalists in both countries and you have a volatile and potentially dangerous mix.
Filmmakers Nick Hazlewood and John Ryan have this report for People & Power.