Archive of articles - October 2004

Reader feedback: New world order

Youth assemble at "UN"

MORE than 170 students from six nations converged on Bratislava late October to discuss international politics, defend their assigned country's policies and participate in voting delegations in a realistic simulation of United Nations procedures for "BratMUN", the fourth annual Model United Nations Conference.Organised by students and alumni from the Gymnázium Jura Hronca high school, the Novohradská foundation, and the Slovak Debate Association, with support from the United Nations Development Program and the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event drew participants from the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Jordan, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Sweden.

Belarus elections denounced as fraud

ELECTION observers have returned home from Minsk denouncing the October 17 Belarusian parliamentary elections as fraudulent and criticising a constitutional referendum that would allow Alexander Lukashenko to extend his authoritarian rule.According to observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the democratic watchdog organisation that sent 300 election observers to Belarus, the elections took place in "a chilling climate of fear".

Šimko leaving Free Forum

IVAN Šimko is leaving the Free Forum party for what he calls a lack of "any programme or set of values". Šimko, who founded the party less than a year ago, will become an independent member of parliament.Although Free Forum (SF) was established as a Christian values-based party, Šimko said that, for him, SF had become a party of "improvisation" in which members were "fighting for power and political position".

Agrippina of today tours Europe

EVEN some music lovers find operas by Georg Friedrich Händel to be an acquired taste. Composed during the height of the Baroque period, many of them are full of long, florid da capo arias and plots about the battle between good and evil, which can make the style seem repetitive and more focused on form than emotion. But, if Händel's operas are staged authentically, with careful attention paid to the details in the score, and a deep understanding of the opera's specific historical significance, a rich and magical expressiveness is revealed.

Open University extends its reach...in English

SINCE Slovakia joined the European Union, new opportunities for Slovaks and foreigners have been popping up. Access to the Open University, a distance-learning university based in Britain, is one of them.The Open University is not new to Slovakia, of course. City University Bratislava (CUB) has been offering an Open University programme in business management since 1990. Taught in Slovak and Czech, the courses at CUB count toward an MBA degree from the Open University - a credential that has bolstered many graduates' job prospects.

Enel talks deadlock

ONE of the last big privatisation deals involving a foreign investor might not go according to schedule.Economy Minister Pavol Rusko rattled the business community by announcing that the sale of Slovakia's major power utility, Slovenské elektrárne, to Italian power producer Enel is "not certain".

Mozzarella plant comes to Slovakia

Slovak Telecom profits down

Auto brakes factory to set up in Zvolen

SDKÚ, HZDS: No comment on alleged union

Steel company goes green

Bratislava goes photo crazy

THE EVER-GROWING popularity of photography may be put down to the flexible, easy-to-use applications of the digital revolution. Or perhaps it is just that snapping has finally won out over the other visual arts. Regardless of the answer, the phenomenon that is photography has spurred growth in Bratislava's annual Month of Photography festival, the longest-running such celebration in Central and Eastern Europe.

Slovakia to join Schengen by 2007

Debated fund pushed through

DARK clouds momentarily gathered over next year's state budget when the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) sided with opposition parties to push through the Environment Fund Act in parliament.The Act obliges the government to launch the Environment Fund in January 2005, requiring it to find an additional Sk1 billion (€25 million) in the state's 2005 coffers.After much laying on of blame, with particular attention given to the SMK for allegedly violating its ruling coalition agreement by allying itself with the opposition, coalition partners agreed October 25 that the Environment Ministry would come up with the €25 million for the fund itself.

Folk with a world twist

IN THE WEEK that Bratislava hosted its jazz festival, folk singer Zuzana Mojžišová, gave a live performance at Slovak Radio to christen her third album, entitled simply Zuzana Mojžišová. BBC radio saw fit to record the concert that took place October 18.Mojžišová brings a world twist to the Slovak folk song and in this most recent venture, she plays music of such originality and scope that she could have been the opener for the eclectic jazz festival.

Smer leads at halfway point

Have a tasty fistful

FISTFUL soup is a classic dish that, unfortunately, is not often served on Slovak menus. This is most likely due to its humble folk history. Its disarmingly descriptive name, hŕstková polievka, tells you exactly what will be in your bowl - a fistful of whatever is at hand.The name may also suggest to some that those making the soup are too poor or simple to have anything else to throw in the pot. However, the result is something not unlike minestrone, although less dogmatic in its ingredients. As anything will do, the soup's flavour is a momentary snapshot of the season and your kitchen.

Around Slovakia

Dog kills eight-year-old boySix break out of cuckoo's nestGrow your own musical instrumentNew cave discoveredVandals spray fascist symbols on war exhibitsKlobása championships