For the past few weeks, relations between Hungary and Slovakia have been strained to say the least. All this is due to wounds from sixty years ago which have failed to heal - and which look set not to heal for another sixty years or so. These wounds have to do with the aftermath of the Second World War, in particular the Benes Decrees which were implemented with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The root cause of the frosty relations between Slovakia and Hungary actually precedes the Second World War and goes as far back as the end of the First World War, when Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and one third of its population, some to newly formed neighbouring states (i.e., Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia). The area ceded to the newly forged state of Czechoslovakia was based primarily along natural frontiers (i.e., the Danube river as a border) rather than ethnic lines, hence a large Hungarian population ended up as part of southern Slovakia. With demands for a rectification of what was viewed as an unjust peace ultimately leading to the Second World War, Hungary regained its lost territories in Slovakia by 1939 only to lose them again in 1945.

For Hungarians, the Benes Decrees are synonymous with the notion of collective guilt and ethnic cleansing during the post-war settlement in Europe. Although the Benes Decrees are actually a series of decrees signed by President Edvard Benes between 1940 (when the Czechoslovak government was a government in exile in London) and 1945, and ranged in issues from the creation of a Czechoslovak exile government (including army) and its organisation to the transition of control of liberated area of Czechoslovakia from the Allied armies and the organisation of a post-war Czechoslovak government, most focus on the controversial laws connected with the confiscation of ethnic German and Hungarian property.

Although in 1948 the Czechoslovak government reinstated citizenship to those Germans and Hungarians still living in Czechoslovakia, what has made this year an especially sensitive one for many Hungarians is the fact that it marked the sixtieth anniversary of the forced deportations of ethnic Hungarians from Slovakia to Hungary. These precipitous expulsions under harsh conditions, although euphemistically referred to as "population exchanges", represented nothing less than a program of state-engineered ethnic cleansing.

While Hungarians commemorate the anniversary with a multimedia exhibition at the Terror House in Budapest, politicians on both sides of the border level accusations at each other. The political tit-for-tat began on September 20th when the Slovak Parliament reaffirmed the decrees. All Slovak members voted for the decision with only the Hungarian minority leaders voting against. While Hungarian minority leaders accuse their Slovak counterparts of extreme nationalism, Slovak leaders accuse the Hungarian minority leaders of irredentism and provoking the parliament with demands for the revocation of the Benes Decrees. Indeed, some argue that if Hungarian minority leaders weren't so provocative, then the idea of reaffirming the decrees may not have even come to a vote.

Outside of Slovakia, meanwhile, the President of Hungary, Laszlo Solyom, expressed dismay and noted that the reaffirmation of the decrees would put a strain on Hungarian-Slovak relations. This was followed by a cancellation of an official visit to Slovakia by the speaker of the Hungarian parliament, Katalin Szili. Protests were organised in front of the Slovak embassy and consulate, and the Slovak ambassador turned down an invitation to attend the Terror House exhibition.

The fallout from all this extends beyond Hungary and Slovakia, however, and reverberates all the way to Brussels. Indeed, it has dampened the image many have had of the European Union (EU). Most Hungarians were disappointed by the entry of Slovakia into the EU, hoping that entry would hinge upon the revocation of the Benes Decrees. Some have since called into question what they regard as the hypocritical nature of EU values, in that states which have supported the notion of collective punishment have been allowed to reaffirm such views with impunity.

Yet not everyone sees the Slovak reaffirmation of the Benes Decrees in such a negative light. The Czech Republic confirmed its support for Slovakia. In many ways, this comes as no surprise as the Benes Decrees was also enacted throughout the Czech Republic, with deportations and collective guilt mainly directed against ethnic Germans.

For some Czechs and Slovaks, while the action of the Slovak parliament may have been unfortunate, the idea of revoking the Benes Decrees is unthinkable. This is because to do so would open a Pandora's Box in terms of restitution.

In the end, what all this highlights is an uncomfortable fact that Europeans have a hard time facing: that conflicts are seldom simply struggles between good and evil. The injustices of the past still haunt us today, and sweeping them under the rug will only sow the seeds of discontent for later generations. The position of European and international courts which have refused to rule on cases concerning the decrees, citing the fact that most international treaties on human rights took effect after 1945, is a case in point.

If Europe is ever going to come together as a "family of nations", then some sort of reconciliation needs to take place. As Shakespeare noted in Macbeth, "what is done is done, it cannot be undone"; yet apologies for the mistakes which have been made, although unable to undo the mistakes of the past, will nevertheless go a long way to help old wounds heal.