Archive of articles - December 2000

Schuster medical fiasco enrages nation

President Rudolf Schuster's summer brush with death stood as a grisly reminder that the country's health care sector is in a shambles, and left the nation wondering what medical attention the average citizen could expect if not even the president could be properly looked after.Schuster's health problems began in mid-June when Interior Ministry hospital doctors suspected that the prseident's abdominal discomfort was being caused by something he had eaten. When his temperature soared on June 18, however, physicians discovered he had a perforated colon requiring immediate surgery.

A brisk end to sluggish year on the Slovak capital market

The Slovak capital market traded at steady prices over the November 20 - December 19 period. The stock market in the period was characterised by large volumes of trading transacted towards the end of the year, as portfolio investors reviewed their portfolios and brokers closed short term positions.

New Year's Eve in Bratislava Old Town

To celebrate the end of one millenium and the beginning of another, the Bratislava Old Town will host a grandiose New Year's Eve Party with dancing, live concerts, ice skating and plenty of fireworks.The programme will be dispersed among three of Bratislava's most famous zones: Hlavné námestie (Main Square), Michalská ulica and Hviezdoslavovo námestie.

Mečiar nabbed by police

The most dramatic images of the year came at 9:00 on April 20 when masked commando police units used explosives to blow down the front door of the ex PM Vladimír Mečiar's villa in Trenčianske Teplice to charge him with abuse of power and fraud. Thanks to a TV Markíza camera crew camped inside, dramatic footage of the event was repeatedly broadcast to the stunned country.Slovak police had wanted Mečiar to testify in the 1995 kidnapping case of the former President's son Michal Kováč Jr. for over a month. They first sent him a subpoena through the mail, which went unanswered.

Quotes of the Year

News Briefs

The Best of Around Slovakia 2000

Čarnogurský car crash leaves two dead

Christian Democrats party (KDH) member Ján Čarnogurský was involved in a serious car accident in the mountain village of Staré Hory outside Banská Bystrica which left two people dead and six others in serious or critical condition.The December 15 accident occurred on rain and ice-slicked roads when Čarnogurský's government BMW lost control and slid over the centre-divider line, first colliding head-on with a Russian-built Lada and then striking an Avia lorry.

Omnium saga ends happily for Slovakia

"Good luck with your investment in Slovakia," said Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Ivan Mikloš on December 14, a few moments before signing a memorandum of understanding on a 2.5 billion crown ($51.9 million) investment with French auto parts producer Plastic Omnium.Mikloš' toast closed the book on a drawn-out battle that began in January this year to land Omnium, the fourth largest foreign investment in Slovakia's history. It's a story that very nearly had a tragic ending for the investment-hungry nation.

The challenge of management

An executive with whom we have had a long standing relationship telephoned, with some sense of urgency. There were several issues confronting him, and all during the busiest time of his business cycle. We were able to clear our desks of all urgent matters, postpone the important issues until we had a clear head and energy to focus, and went to his office as fast as we could.

Slovak rituals of Christmases past

The period before Christmas in Slovakia used to be a blend of Christian customs and folk beliefs known as stridžie dni, or 'witch days', and was governed by numerous superstitions and rituals.For example, an unmarried woman might throw slippers towards a door. If they landed with the toes pointing to the door, she would remain unmarried for another year. If they pointed back at the woman, a man would soon come into her life.Other girls banged with wooden spoons on the village well, and according to the sound made predicted the occupation of their future husbands.

Athletes do country proud

During a year of political squabbles, racial tension, and medical mishaps, Slovaks can take pride in 2000 as the year of two unprecedented Slovak successes in international sporting competitions.On May 14, the Slovak national hockey team lost the gold medal match of the Ice Hockey World Championships 5-3 to the Czech Republic. But the defeat did not dampen the elation of the Slovaks at winning the silver, by far the country's best finish in a major international hockey competition.

Peter Králik: Making an issue of homosexuality in Slovakia

He's a "typical man" who reaches for the daily Šport newspaper before any other. He lists German existentialist philosophers Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers as his favourite authors. He is an avid sportsman who competed in swim meets during his school years and has since taken up cycling and basketball. He's single, but says that "those who search find what they are seeking". He's a "professional gay" spreading word of the homosexual community in Slovakia.

Not our pick:A lean year for leadership

Beyond the blinding glare cast by Slovak politics one can find many examples of courage and dedication in this country, not least in the man and woman we have chosen to honour in this issue for their contributions to the common weal. Such people are proof of how much the country has changed since 1998 elections; less naive and vulnerable, more stoic and confident, Slovakia is slowly producing a vision of itself, no matter how bitterly intellectuals may claim the opposite.

The Next Two Weeks

Business Briefs

The ST saga: all's well that ends well

The government began 2000 trying to put a difficult year for telecoms behind it. Summer 1999 had seen not just the controversial scrapping of a tender for a third mobile phone operator, but also the subsequent resignation of Telecoms Minister Gabriel Palacka.The biggest and most important privatisation in the coalition's term so far, that of telecoms firm Slovenské telekomunikacie (ST), was to be the litmus test for the biggest state sell-offs ahead. The entire process was slated for completion in 1999 but had been dogged throughout that year by a number of delays, and the first half of 2000 saw little change.

Racial beatings increase

As in 1999, the year 2000 was repeatedly marred by racial tension in Slovakia. The single case which received the most local and international attention was the August 22 murder of Anastázia Balážová, a Roma mother of eight in the northern Slovak city of Žilina.While Balážová's family slept, three assailants broke into the house and attacked the youngest children. The killers, screaming racial epithets such as "We will kill you, black faces!", struck Balážová in the head with a baseball bat. She died in hospital from her injuries two days later.

Sometimes they come back: Advisor Katarína Mathernová

She's a single woman who is "not against marriage, but so far I haven't had the time." She loves detective stories, and singles out Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye as her favorite reading material. She dislikes envy and narrow-mindedness, and respects generosity, decency, and straight-forwardness. In the words of MP František Mikloško, she's "the woman who conquered the World Bank".