Some hope that things will improve as the fortunes of Jan Slota, the Slovak National Party leader, fade.

ECONOMIST: Hungary and Slovakia

This victory secures only 43 seats for the HZDS - 18 fewer than before - while his erstwhile coalition partner, the Slovak National Party, has 14 - making 57 in all.

BBC: News | Europe | Co-operation key to long-term success

Mikulas Dzurinda, a former prime minister and opposition leader, says that the real danger to the Slovak language comes not from tongue-tied ethnic Hungarians, but from the debasing of Slovak by foul-mouthed chauvinists in the government, such as the leader of the Slovak National Party, Jan Slota.

ECONOMIST: Slovakia criminalises the use of Hungarian