Slovakia: No Hungarian spoken in public

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia demonstrated Tuesday against a new law allowing only the use of Slovak language in public institutions, Hungarian officials said.

Slovakia maintains the law comports with European standards, but Hungarian protesters say it violates international law, the BBC reported.

The penalty for the regular public misuse of the Slovak language is a fine of up to $7,000, which is close to the average yearly salary in Slovakia, the news service reported.

A meeting between the prime ministers of Slovakia and Hungary is scheduled for next week to try to smooth the rocky relationship between the two countries.

Ethnic Hungarians make up approximately 10 percent of the Slovakian population, the report said.

"The law makes no sense... (it) only creates tension between people who have lived peacefully side by side," said Peter Pazmany of the Hungarian Coalition Party in Slovakia, an ethnic opposition group.