Archive of articles - June 2007, page 6

Mečiar re-elected HZDS leader; Veteška undergoes brain surgery

VLADIMÍR Mečiar was re-elected chairman of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), part of the ruling coalition, on June 9 at the party's national congress in Nitra.Mečiar won 217 out of 240 votes in an open ballot that was decided by a show of hands, remaining the party's one and only leader since its inception in 1991.

EU campaigns for tolerance and diversity

MORE than half of EU citizens would not know how to defend their rights if they fell victim to discrimination or harassment, says a 2006 Eurobarometer survey on discrimination.The survey shows that a higher level of awareness of these issues is needed. In Slovakia, only 50 percent of those surveyed believed that more efforts were needed to fight discrimination.

Around Slovakia

Slota's vulgarity angers coalition

THE CONTROVERSIAL chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Ján Slota temporarily united the ruling coalition and the opposition when he referred to homosexuals as "queers".

KDH timeline

Dzurinda rejects EU tax initiative

Mečiar files remain silent

FORMER Slovak prime minister Vladimír Mečiar was probably only a marginal contact for the communist secret police (ŠtB), said a researcher from the Czech Interior Ministry's security archives.

Modra (old school for wine making)

THE house in the upper part of the old centre of Modra is among the most historical buildings in this ancient wine-making town. It is interesting to see how it has changed over the years.

SND's final opera premiere more bitter than sweet

THE PREMIERE of Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Slovak National Theatre (SND) on the weekend of June 8 was a throwback to some of the house's uninspired past productions, in which unconvincing singers wandered about the stage aimlessly, the chorus sounded timid and lethargic, and the entire production concept came across as contrived.

Senica loses funds from EU

Emotions in health care sector run high

THE RELATIONSHIP between Health Minister Ivan Valentovič and private health insurers operating on the Slovak market has been conflicted since the very beginning. The ruling Smer party has already produced its third revision to the Act on Health Insurers, which would prevent these companies from using their profit to pay dividends to their shareholders.

Slovak economy grows 9 percent in Q1

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

Quote of the Week:

PM calls tax cut plan "sabotage"

RECENT talk about a tax cut has angered Prime Minister Robert Fico, who referred to the opposition's suggestion to reduce income taxes from the current 19 to 17 percent as "sabotage".

Palko: "I will win... the KDH needs a change"

"I will win... the KDH needs a change," former interior minister Vladimír Palko said in an interview with The Slovak Spectator a few days before the the Christian Democratic Movement's (KDH) party congress. Palko, who served in Dzurinda's government between 2002 and 2006, is challenging incumbent Pavol Hrušovský for the party's top post.

Mins not drawing funds

SLOVAKIA has had serious problems drawing money from European Union structural funds and the country might end up without any finances from the fund this year, MP Štefan Kužma of the opposition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union has warned.

Leadership fight grips Christian Dems

PAVOL Hrušovský, the moderate Christian Democrat who says that politics should be the realm of confident and capable people, and Vladimír Palko, who wants the Christian Democrats to be more conservative and says that "Ján Slota cannot remain Slovakia's only patriot," are competing for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH).

Culture shorts