Archive of articles - July 1999, page 5

If Hungarians won't board EU train, leave them at the station

Hungarian Coalition Party leader Béla Bugár is looking peevish these days. His party has been trying to convince its three partners in the coalition government to alter the wording of a minority language law on its way to parliament, but no one wants to listen; indeed, cabinet actually approved the law on June 23 without the support of the Hungarians.Some in the diplomatic community say that the government's inability to agree on the law "looks bad," particularly to EU member countries anxious to see Slovaks and Hungarians getting along. In fact, it is the crowded timetable for approval of the law which has created the squabble, not divisions within the coalition itself.

Just one Kosovar leaves Slovakia to bring news from home

HZDS appoints first minister to shadow cabinet

Community Grapevine

International Summer School of Art and Performance

Letter to the Editor

FNM slow to prosecute privatisers

Karol Martinka is in deep trouble. The husband of Blažena Martinková, former Prime Minister Mečiar's advisor for "everything," Martinka is hiding out in Austria from charges of fraud laid by the Slovak financial police. In a tacit admission of his guilt last week, Martinka authorized his Vadium Group company to return the 68% stake that it acquired in the Piešťany spa in 1996 to the state privatisation agency, the FNM.FNM President Ľudovít Kaník told The Slovak Spectator on June 21 that once the Vadium Group stake is back in the government's hands, "the only possible future for the [Piešťany spa] shares is a public tender organised by the Slovak government." Martinka's capitulation might well be cause for government rejoicing, given the difficulties that the FNM has encountered in forcing crooked privatisers under the Mečiar regime to return their ill-gotten booty to the state.

Music review: Drink Drank Drunk rocks out packed Irish Pub

As a native of the musically-rich San Francisco Bay area, I count myself lucky that I've had the opportunity to see some 50 music concerts, from the Beastie Boys to Leon Russell, from Paul McCartney to the Fugees.So when the Bratislava-based band Drink Drank Drunk announced they would be playing at the Irish Pub on June 18, I went with the expectations of listening to some decent live music and enjoying an evening out on the town. What I did not expect was that I would walk away from the experience trying hard to remember a concert I'd ever enjoyed more.

US trade booster takes personal approach

Duane Schultz went home to America last week with a pocketful of business cards and a major task ahead. The colleague of Congressman John Mica, Schultz, came to Slovakia June 10 to help prepare for an August trade mission being organized by the Congressman to increase contacts between Slovak and American business.The mission, which will start August 29, is scheduled to bring between 15-20 American business and political leaders to Slovakia for trade discussions and the week's Slovak National Uprising celebrations. It is the second such mission to be organized by Mica, who is of Slovak heritage and speaks regularly about Slovak-related issues on the Congress floor.

Dzurinda: Slovakia will not waste chance to get into NATO

Industrial production index down 1.8% in April

Slovakia's gross foreign debt down to $9.7 billion in March

Aluminum giant ZSNP group reports 1998 loss of 1.17 billion Sk

Ten Slovak summer café secrets

During the long Bratislava summer days, every self-respecting city restaurant with a patch of free concrete throws out a couple of plastic chairs and starts serving beers al fresco. The result is an Old Town so packed with West umbrellas the words "relaxing" and "outside" soon cease to have much in common.But beyond Hlavné námestie and past jammed Michalská are a number of hidden outdoor retreats which offer a pleasant atmosphere to those street-smart enough to be able to find them. Many are old Slovak stand-bys with low prices to match. Here, The Spectator has highlighted 10 uncommon outdoor restaurant finds, each worth visting for its own reasons.

Art Spotlight

The Sculpture and the Object, Bratislava Old Town. Outdoor sculpture exhibit through the end of August.Don't be confused by the strange wire city gate replica which will be suspended over Laurinská Street near SNP Square this week. It and the other wooden, metal and plastic abstract and modern constructions which will start sprouting up around the city on June 26 are all part of a large, open-air summer sculpture exhibit entitled the "The Sculpture and the Object".

Quote of the Week

Letter to the Editor: Fowl controversy continues

SPORTS BRIEFS

Senec stripped of SuperLiga status, blames corruptionPálffy signs with Kings

Having lost 2006 bid, Poprad-Tatry eyes 2010 Winter Games

Slovakia's bid to host the 2006 Winter Olympics ended in Seoul on June 19 when the Italian city of Turin was awarded the games. The Slovak committee is now weighing the merits of re-applying for the next Winter Games, in 2010."The whole [Slovak Olympic] committee was really surprised and disappointed," said Július Dubovský, the Slovak government's official representative for the country's 2006 candidacy, in an interview with The Slovak Spectator on June 23. "Our presentation drew very favourable reactions from the members of the International Olympic Committee [IOC], and we felt that it had put us on an equal level with the other [six] candidates," he said.

Disgraced Slota hangs on to job

Sometimes it seems as though there is nothing Ján Slota, the leader of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), won't say.The 'enfant terrible' of the Slovak political scene has been quoted over the past few weeks ridiculing his own female party colleagues as hard-up old maids who are in politics because they can't find men. Spotted often with a face flushed with alcohol, he has also been seen urinating in public as a Slovak police officer companion allegedly wet his pants simultaneously.But though Slota's increasingly troubled outbursts appear to be hurting both his own popularity and that of his party, it now looks as though he will survive in the SNS top chair at least until the end of September, when the party's next national congress will be held.