VOA标准英语2009年-Slovakia, Hungary Agree to Tackle Extremis

The Prime Ministers of Hungary and Slovakia have agreed to tackle extremism as part of efforts to overcome their countries' worst diplomatic crisis in years. They made the announcement following a meeting at the Hungarian-Slovak border Thursday. Both nations are at loggerheads over a controversial language law and the treatment of ethnic¹ Hungarians in Slovakia.

Amid tight security, the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Slovakia met at the Hungarian border town of Szecseny and announced they had agreed on ways to end their political and ethnic disputes.

In a joint² statement, the two leaders pledged to tackle extremism and extremist groups and "all forms of xenophobia, intolerance, chauvinism, and nationalism, and all manifestations³ of violence and their exports to other countries."

Joint police task force

The two Prime Ministers said they would consider setting up a joint police task force within two months to help in this task. They also stressed it was important to improve the integration⁴ of gypsies, also known as Roma, in their countries, following deadly attacks by extremists against the community.

The two leaders acknowledged it was crucial for their countries to fully⁵ implement⁶ what is known as the "Treaty on Good-neighbourly Relations and Friendly Co-operation between the Republic of Hungary and the Slovak Republic" which was signed in Paris in 1995.

As part of the agreement, joined groups will assist in improving energy security of the two countries, better road and railway connections, new bridges over common rivers and the publication of textbooks on the countries' history.

Minority committees

Among other steps mentioned in their 11-points statement is a plan to ensure that mixed committees for minorities will regularly meet. They are to cooperate with the High Commissioner⁷ on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The declaration is aimed at ending the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries in years. It was sparked by Slovakia's decision to implement a new language law that Budapest claims discriminates⁸ against over half a million ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia.

Under the law, anyone speaking a minority language in the goverment-run service sectors⁹ can be fined over $7,000.

Does law target Hungarians?

The law is to be implemented¹⁰ in areas where fewer than 20 percent of the population are members of an ethnic minority. But Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico strongly denied that the law was aimed at ethnic Hungarians.

He told his Hungarian counterpart that the language law "in no way is harming the rights of minorities living in Slovakia." Mr. Fico says, "It is not true that it harms the Hungarians living in Slovakia and that they can not use their mother tongue."

However the Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai disagreed.

He says that apparently¹¹ the two countries each interpret the legalities and the situation created by the language law differently. He adds that both countries suffer from what he calls "fear, paranoia¹², and a long history" which, he says, "leads to mistakes on both sides."

Mr. Bajnai said that he hopes the meeting has helped the two countries to reach an agreement and learn from 100 years of mistakes.

No breakthrough

While no breakthrough was reached on this issue, Mr. Fico also made clear he regretted that Hungary's president Laszlo Solyom was barred from entering Slovakia last month to unveil a monument for Hungary's medieval king, Stephen in the Slovak border town of Komarno.

But people living in the border areas are not convinced tensions will ease. The mayor of Komarno, Tibor Bastrnak, says he fears politicians will continue to spoil relations between the two countries.

He says that people have to realize there are local elections in Slovakia soon and then within a year there will be parliamentary elections in both Slovakia and Hungary. It seems, he says, "that some politicians are already preparing for these and consider politics more important than good neighborly relations."

Slovakia became an independent country in 1993 after the break up of Czechoslovakia, and was earlier ruled for centuries by Hungary.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 manifestations   

n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• These were manifestations of the darker side of his character. 这些是他性格阴暗面的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To be wordly-wise and play safe is one of the manifestations of liberalism. 明哲保身是自由主义的表现之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 discriminates   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
• One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。