Budapest  - The Hungarian government on Thursday called it "regrettable" that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had rejected a package of measures aimed at improving diplomatic relations offered by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

On the same day, former Slovak prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda blamed both governments for fomenting ethnic nationalist sentiment.

"Hungary does not understand, and regrets the response, but will implement its own recommendations regardless of the Slovak position," government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai said on Thursday. She noted that Hungary has yet to receive official notification of Fico's position.

Budapest  - Turkey has accepted a Hungarian proposal to set up an international advocacy body to push for the quick realisation of the planned Nabucco gas pipeline, the head of a Hungarian committee said on Wednesday after talks.

The Turkish parliamentary trade and energy commissioner Soner Aksoy was in Budapest heading his country's delegation for talks with the leaders of the Hungarian parliament's ad hoc Nabucco committee.

After the meeting, the committee chairman Janos Koka told the state news agency MTI that Aksoy had expressed support for Hungary's recent proposal to set up an Nabucco advocacy committee.

Bratislava - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected Wednesday demands by his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsany aimed at easing nationalist tensions between the two historical foes.

At a November 15 meeting in Slovakia, Gyurcsany among others asked Fico to allow use of Hungarian textbooks in minority schools, set up an ombudsman for minorities and jointly investigate cases of minority rights violations.

"There is no reason for any adjustments as the legal protection of minority rights is on the European level," the CTK news agency cited Fico as saying.

Budapest - Thousands of public sector workers took to the streets in the Hungarian capital on Saturday to protest against a pay freeze and the abolition of end-of-year bonuses.

Many streets in central Budapest were closed to traffic on Saturday morning as public sector workers vented their anger over the proposed cutbacks, which are part of the government's cost-cutting budget bill.

Members of some 30 unions representing workers from different branches of the public sector braved icy rain to meet at several points around the city before gathering in front of the parliament building.

Budapest  - The Japanese carmaker Suzuki is to lay off 1,200 workers, over a fifth of its workforce, at its Hungarian plant starting from December 8, the Hungarian state news agency MTI reported on Friday.

In the face of a drastic fall in orders, Suzuki has downscaled its production this year from a planned 300,000 to 282,000, while next year it plans to produce only 210,000 cars.

As a further blow to the Hungarian labour market, the Hungarian unit of Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn told MTI on the same day that it is to lay off a total of 1,500 workers.

Budapest  - Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom and his Slovakian counterpart Ivan Gasparovic plan to meet on December 6 amidst worsening relations between their countries.

A diplomatic row between Hungary and its neighbour to the north broke out earlier this month after a football match at which the police allegedly used excessive force and deliberately targeted Hungarian supporters.

The meeting to try and defuse the growing tension was announced by the presidents' offices on Tuesday, but by Thursday evening Hungary and Slovakia were still wrangling over where to hold the event.