Opinion

Russian roulette EDITORIAL IVAN Gašparovič’s performance as Slovakia’s president makes the topic of the upcoming presidential elections a timely one, even with almost a year to go before the country elects its new head of state. Gašparovič, the one-time right-hand man of Vladimír Mečiar, the controversial three-time prime minister who in the mid 1990s pushed Slovakia to the brink of international isolation, has substantially lowered the expectations of at least half of the nation for the president. 17 Jun 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Helping hands EDITORIAL IT SEEMS that Robert Fico decided long ago that Jozef Čentéš is not destined to become Slovakia’s general prosecutor. He could have said clearly after he marched to power in 2012 that there was no way that under his government Čentéš, who was chosen by the parties of the current opposition and then lawfully elected by parliament in 2011, would be appointed by President Ivan Gašparovič – who enjoyed massive support from Fico’s Smer party (then in government) during his re-election run in 2009. 10 Jun 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Storočná voda Slovak Word of the Week THE RELATIONSHIP between nations and nature can take different forms. Some countries live in constant fear of earthquakes, tornadoes or volcanoes. For others, oil, gas, or metals represent their main source of income. Slovakia’s relationship is not so passionate. Its main commodity and its main threat are the same – water. It has rich underground reserves in the south. And from time to time floods strike all across the country. This week it was Bratislava’s turn. The Danube reached record levels, there was justified talk of a ‘hundred-years’ water’ (storočná voda). The other thing which becomes visible at such moments is just how well the flood-protection system, the latest parts of which were built over the last decade, handles the pressure – very well, at least so far. 6 Jun 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Old ghosts keep coming back EDITORIAL OLD scandals will continue to come back and haunt society until those responsible for the damage that the fraud, embezzlement and dubious deals caused are named, prosecuted and sent to prison. Many Slovaks would nevertheless readily comment that they live in a country where the larger the embezzlement of public funds, or the higher the damage suffered by the state due to non-transparent conduct, the less likely it is that those who unfairly benefited end up behind bars. The course that the ‘investigation’ of suspicions of large-scale embezzlement of public funds in the military intelligence service will probably take, much like numerous other inquiries into suspicions of corruption in Slovakia, will likely reinforce this belief. 3 Jun 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

VÚC Slovak Word of the Week THERE is not much to like about the Higher Regional Units (VÚC). The name sounds just as bureaucratic and artificial in Slovak as it does in English. Their borders reflect no traditional regions, but given the political situation of the early 2000s and an ever-present fear of Hungarian separatism – which is why the Trnava VÚC looks like a giant lizard getting ready to attack and swallow Bratislava – the point was to stretch it as far to the north as possible. The powers of the regions are clear to few, and the alliances that run them have no political logic. 30 May 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Do words stand for nothing? EDITORIAL THE PRESIDENT and the prime minister of Slovakia have recently made a couple of remarks which should unsettle anyone who had hoped that court decisions were immune to the will of politicians and that the era when the answer to questions like “how come” or “why” is just “because I said so” was behind us. 27 May 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Vojenské spravodajstvo Slovak Word of the Week GIVEN that Slovakia has not been at war in a long time, it remains somewhat of a mystery what, exactly, its military intelligence (vojenské spravodajstvo) does. 23 May 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Duelling for justice EDITORIAL “I REGRET that we do not live in a time when I could challenge you to a duel,” writes the husband of the president of Slovakia’s Constitutional Court in a letter to one of the parties to an ongoing dispute at this same court, telling him that he would leave “the choice of weapon” up to him. The husband, who is himself a lawyer and, thus, some of the ground rules of the judiciary should not be foreign to him, says in his letter to the man who filed an objection of bias against his spouse, that his parents must be ashamed of him and that “obviously your sick desire to sit in the chair of the general prosecutor has released in you a so-far well-masked churlishness and [revealed your] human limitations”. 20 May 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Súboj Slovak Word of the Week THE LIST of famous people killed in a duel (súboj) came close to lengthening recently. Pushkin would have been joined by an unlikely companion – Jozef Čentéš. Much has been written here about the election and appointment of the general prosecutor. But the madness has really reached new heights. It now turns out that Ľubomír Macejka, the husband of Constitutional Court President Ivetta Macejková, wrote Čentéš an angry letter:“I regret that we do not live in a time when I could challenge you to a duel. I would give you the choice of weapons.” “I wish that not only prosecutors, but also people who have thus far known nothing of you, expel you from their company, as someone humanly unacceptable.” 16 May 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Decades of 'little reminders' EDITORIAL SLOVAKS have been incredibly creative in softening the edges of the word ‘corruption’ and have developed a colourful tapestry of expressions to use instead of the word ‘bribe’. Most Slovaks who have, at one time or another, paid a bribe would say they only gave a ‘malá pozornosť’ which might translate to something like a ‘little reminder’ or a ‘small consideration’. The ‘reminder’ of course might be as ‘little’ as €10,000, discreetly slipped into the right pocket. Some still recite the communist-era proverb that if you do not steal from the state you are stealing from your family, and continue greasing the palms of those who control the flow of public funds. 13 May 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Žalúdok Slovak Word of the Week APPARENTLY, Marián Kočner has had three-quarters of his stomach (žalúdok) taken out. No wonder, given that digesting everything that the Bratislava businessman has been through is no easy task. 9 May 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Someone whom Smer will like... EDITORIAL THE STORY of electing the country’s next general prosecutor cannot possibly have a happy ending, since the process which started more than two years ago has exposed a whole tapestry of ills in Slovak politics, and has seriously contributed to the corrosion of people’s faith in their politicians’ respect for the constitution and the independence of the judiciary from political power. 6 May 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Krási Slovak World of the Week IT’S ASIA week. First, Bangalore turned out to be the city deciding the country’s future. And then the Indonesian Embassy helped us to understand that our president isn’t able to write a single sentence without making several mistakes. 2 May 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

Following in Slota's footsteps EDITORIAL IF IT wasn’t such an outright attempt to tap taxpayers’ money, one could easily treat the case of Horné Plachtince as the inspiration for a perfect melodrama script for the silver screen: a small village where a passing car is enough to create a buzz makes it really big. After partnering with a private firm founded by a person with a serious conflict of interest, a former spy and a woman who has already been involved in one of Slovakia’s shadiest public tenders, it can procure services for ministries, the national academy of sciences or even the state-run newswire. 29 Apr 2013 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Horné Plachtince Slovak Word of the Week IF YOU’re looking for the new El Dorado, just visit Horné Plachtince. The village in southern Slovakia, home to some 200 inhabitants, has in just a couple of days become one of the best known places in the country. No wonder. When your company plans to hand out as much as €130 million in state cash, you deserve the attention. 25 Apr 2013 Lukáš Fila The Slovak Spectator

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