Archive of articles - April 2004, page 2

Brussels experience Slovak Week

SLOVAK Week was launched at European Union institutions in Brussels on April 19 with a conference attended by Slovak Deputy Premier Pál Csáky, the news wire TASR wrote.Csáky said he was pleasantly surprised with the level of interest in the conference and also the many questions asked, even though a number of them were on thorny issues such as the situation of the Roma minority in Slovakia.

Belly dancers come to Slovakia

A GRANDIOSE dance show of the far East, Ney, is coming to Slovakia after having success in Germany and Austria.

Around Slovakia

Robber goes postalBear family broken upYoung vandals get suspended sentencesCopper and robberA model protestGrenades found in parkA dangerous garden

NOW PLAYING IN CINEMAS

Danfoss moves to Zlaté Moravce

Spain shifts focus

THE TRADITIONAL business partner of Spain is Latin America. Its presence in Europe is thus not very significant. But since Spain entered the European Union, Spanish investors have been looking for their place in Europe. The EU could be a way to encourage mutual cooperation with Slovakia.Only about 6 percent of Slovakia's overall imports from the EU countries come from Spain and it sends approximately 2 or 3 percent of its EU exports there.

Is Mečiar finished?

THE ACTIONS of former PM and failed presidential candidate Vladimír Mečiar in the immediate future may have a decisive impact not only on his own political career, but on overall developments on the domestic political scene.Music has accompanied Mečiar throughout his political career.His success in the 1994 general elections was based in great part on the hit single Vivat Slovakia, in which he and his ensemble of close associates from the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), later intelligence service boss Ivan Lexa and current president-elect Ivan Gašparovič among them, sang of a Slovakia "forever free of grudges.

Radio in the red

Smer leads popularity charts

Towns strong but poor

MAYORS of towns and villages from all of Slovakia came to Bratislava on April 20 to tell Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda that they did not like the way the government was treating the regional governments.A crowd about a thousand strong gathered in front of the Slovak Cabinet Office to warn that the municipalities are in a critical state for which they cannot be blamed.The fiscal decentralisation plan - scheduled for January 2006 - that the Finance Ministry released in early April was the straw that broke the camel's back for the local governments, who already feel they are suffering.

What to expect from the new president

IN LESS than two months, Ivan Gašparovič will take over as Slovakia's third head of state. Considering the diversity of forces that have won him the office and his political stature, the new president is likely to avoid conflicts or taking decisive action.Despite the paradoxes of his success, the new president will eventually be forced to clearly define his relations with the government and his position in key areas of foreign policy.

Quote of the Week

Sk300 million for PSA Peugeot Citroen

A chain reaction;battling for EU law

THE EUROPEAN Commission has once again signalled that Slovakia's retail chains act needs to be promptly brought into harmony with European legislation or else completely erased.Though it is clear that Slovak legislators will not make the corrections by May 1, when the country enters the EU, the European Commission (EC) is not likely to penalise Slovakia immediately, officials say.Arhi Palosuo of the EC Directorate General for Enlargement told Deputy Prime Minister Pál Csáky that Brussels was not planning protective measures against any of the 10 new members in response to violations of membership obligations.

Walser to make car carpets in Slovakia

A carbonated copy

The Texas Chainsaw MassacreStarring: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric BalfourDirected by: Marcus NispelRunning time: 98 minRating: 5 out of 10IT MAY seem slightly odd to call a movie about a chainsaw-wielding, cannibalistic, and homicidal maniac charming but, in its own unsettling way, Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is just that. Sure, it's gruesome and disturbing and all that, but there is something about its simplicity that is undeniably appealing.

SIS on terror alert

The music of Europe

THE FOUNDER of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg (SEL) orchestra and the artistic director for the Schengen Chamber Orchestra, Bratislava native Jack Martin Händler will hold two concerts celebrating Slovakia's May 1 entry to the European Union.The first concert will be in Bratislava, two days before the entry takes place, and the other in New York, four days later.

EC exempts certain food firms