Archive of articles - October 2006, page 2

Mečiar's amnesties: Plumbing the legal abyss

FOR THE FIFTH time in six years, the Christian Democrats (KDH) failed to convince parliament to support a motion to overturn two amnesties issued by Vladimír Mečiar in 1998 for two of the most notorious political crimes committed under his government: the 1995 kidnapping to Austria of Michal Kováč Jr., son of the president, and the thwarting of a 1997 referendum on NATO membership.

Culture shorts

Harabin approved for Constitutional Court

Fico: I copied and chased girls at school

UN gives Slovakia lead role on North Korea

ONLY WEEKS after having been embarrassed by a suspension issued to the ruling Smer party by Europe's socialists, Slovakia has received several job offers on the global stage that promise to increase the state's international profile.

Additional taxation considered

PRESS digest: HOSPODÁRSKE NOVINY DAILY

Plavecký Hrad

Plavecký Castle used to be part of the Low Carpathian defence front that guarded the Hungarian Empire's western border. It was built in the 13th century, at the latest, by the Polovci, a nomadic tribe from Russian savannahs whom Hungarian kings invited in to protect the Záhorie region.

Šramko will be strict on prices

MEPs push for debate on Schengen

Slovaks want a break, not a new beginning

A FEW weeks ago, a political commentator who had been fairly critical of the Fico government in its first months experienced a moment of self-doubt. The cabinet had just approved its euro-friendly budget draft, the crown was at record strength against the European currency, and visiting financial investors were reporting cautious optimism about the prospects of the economy.

"Slovakia is bound by its obligations"

BEN Slay, the director of the regional centre of the United Nation's Development Program in Bratislava, spoke to The Slovak Spectator on October 24 about the role Slovakia was already playing in UN's various programs and agencies, and how the country could help more in the future.

Ján Počiatek: "sentiment is important"

WHEN he was appointed finance minister, his former colleagues from the Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor were as surprised as the Slovak expert public - pleasantly surprised, but nonetheless surprised.

SMK, KDH diplomats to be recalled

PRESS digest: PRAVDA DAILY

Victor Buck to invest Sk472 million

Slota's anti-SMK call-to-arms falls flat

AT THE RECENT congress of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), unchallenged leader Ján Slota was re-confirmed in the top party post and, immediately following his triumph, made headlines by appealing to all Slovak political parties not to cooperate with the opposition Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK).

Matador in talks with Continental

46 percent against canceling tax assignation

ALMOST half of Slovak citizens older than 18 are against changing the current right of corporations to donate 2 percent of their income taxes to the NGO of their choice, a move the government is proposing as a cost-saving measure.