In other news, Hungarian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Istvan Szent-Ivanyi has said the draft law on Slovakia's new territorial arrangement conflicts with the treaty. Szent-Ivanyi's Slovak counterpart, Jozef Sestak, denied those claims in an interview with Pravda on 14 March. The Hungarian parliament on 12 March approved Hungary's 1996 social security budget, Reuters and AFP reported on 13 March. The parliament on 13 March approved an amendment to the Penal Code allowing courts to take more powerful action against extremists, AFP reported. Under the new law, anyone who incites hatred against any national, ethnic, racial, religious, or social group is subject to imprisonment of up to three years.
Ethnic violence is punishable by up to five years in jail.
The bill, which was approved by a margin of 212 to eight with 44 abstentions, follows the recent acquittal of two Hungarian neo-Nazi leaders. Muslim gangs from Sarajevo continue to terrorize the Serbs who resisted arson and intimidation from their own side to stay in their homes in Ilidza, the BBC reported on 13 March. There has been some increase in police protection, but over 100 cases of actions against Serbs have been reported. Muslims have been telling Serbs they intend to move into their homes, and many Serbs have fled or are wondering what to do next, Reuters noted. The key issue for IFOR is to prevent a repeat in Grbavica of the events of recent days in Ilidza.