Czech and Slovak leaders have ended talks in Bratislava with an agreement to promote closer ties and resolve outstanding problems arising from the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The new Slovak prime minister, Mikulas Dzurinda, said both republics had agreed to resolve within a year one of the main disputes -- the division of former federal property.

The Czech prime minister, Milos Zeman, said his country would do all it could to help Slovakia get back among the first wave of countries holding talks on European Union and NATO expansion.

Earlier this month, the Czech president, Vaclav Havel, hailed a new climate in relations with Slovakia -- which under the previous government had often come under strain.