Archive of articles - July 2007, page 3

Utility might restrict water supply

Human trafficking claims Slovak victims

MORE Slovaks are being sold into modern-day slavery as sex workers or unpaid labourers, statistics show.In 1998, Slovakia recorded three cases of human trafficking. Last year, there were 40 cases, Jozef Buček, the state secretary of the Interior Ministry, told Slovak Radio in April.

Žilina resurrects grants programme

FOR THE last year, the Žilina Library has been helping mothers on maternity leave, seniors, disabled people and the long-term unemployed learn computer literacy skills through its free Communication Without Barriers programme. But their computer hardware had fallen into such bad shape, it was no longer meeting the programme's needs.

Embattled officer keeps his post

A POLICE officer who confessed in 1995 to helping a colleague violently extort a Sk5,000 debt is to remain in charge of an elite police unit.Police corps president Ján Packa and Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák say that Marián Pecko, the head of the Anti-Drug Unit, is the victim of a smear campaign, and that he still has their confidence.

Southern movement not thriving near Moča

Several hours before arriving in the village of Moča, which hosted a founding meeting of the Southern Council pro-autonomy movement the previous weekend, I call local Mayor Alexander Asbóth."I am sorry, I cannot meet you because of the funeral of Zsiga báscsi (Uncle Zsiga)," he says.But over the phone, he shares his thoughts on the meeting.

Sharing in Žilina's success

KYSUCKÉ Nové Mesto's proximity to Žilina has made the northern-Slovak town and its surrounding area an attractive location for foreign investors.Shortly after Korean car-maker Kia built its plant near Žilina, the Kysucké Nové Mesto industrial park, located only 15 kilometres from the plant, became the new home for a number of machinery suppliers and sub-suppliers, such as ARVIN Meritor and SK Metal.

Autonomy group dismissed by SMK

ON A RECENT weekend in Moča, a small village near Komárno, up to 20 people met in the restaurant of a new boarding house. They called themselves Južanská Rada za Sebaurčenie (Southern Council for Self-determination) and put together a petition calling for the right to self-determination for the "Southern Nation": Hungarians, Slovaks and Roma living in southern Slovakia.

The Far East meets Central Europe

WHEN Jae-Han Jung arrived in Slovakia eight years ago, there was no Korean community here.Jung is the pastor of the Korean Pentecostal church on Panenská Street in Bratislava. But back then, he came on his own as a missionary.When he first arrived, he had to figure out how to navigate a new language and culture without other Koreans to support him.

Slovak gets major promotion in Brussels

Ambassador expects Korean investors to stay for the long term

WHEN Yong-Kyu Park, the Republic of Korea's ambassador to Slovakia, arrived to set up his country's first-ever embassy here in January, even he was surprised at the level of Korean investment in Slovakia.

The ten commandments of drinking in Slovakia

I'M COMPLETELY hung over right now. No, really. I'm sucking down water and thinking about the funny Slovak expression for a hangover, Mám opicu (literally 'I have a monkey'), which probably developed from being close in pronunciation to the verb opiť sa (to get drunk).

EU-harmonised inflation beats expectations

Employers look abroad to fill Slovak jobs

THE COUNTRY with the highest unemployment rate in the European Union is opening its gates to workers from other countries.A major car-maker in Slovakia has already hired workers from Romania and started searching for more in other Balkan countries, while foreign investors are warning about the growing lack of qualified labour in the region.

Lower roaming fees on their way

Slovakia's mobile operators will offer lower call prices to clients abroad in response to the EU's recent Europe-wide cap on roaming charges.The European Commission made the roaming regulation binding in all member countries after repeatedly urging mobile operators to lower their roaming charges.

New citizenship law confirmed

Insita serves as a forum for outsider and self-taught art

THE SLOVAK National Gallery (SNG) is hosting the eighth triennial Insita 2007, an exhibition of works by untrained artists known as Self-Taught Art, Naive Art, Art Brut and Outsider Art. Until the end of September, visitors can see an international jury's selection of about 300 pieces by 90 artists from 18 countries.

Bureaucrats still see state as cash cow

IN FEBRUARY 2003, the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) adopted an "action plan" to fight corruption, and identified "the provision of compensation as restitution to approved individuals" as one of its "problem areas". Four years later, it appears that the SPF's struggle against corruption in its ranks has suffered from too much planning and too little action.

Tatras

THIS POSTCARD from 1938 shows a cottage called Zverovka in the Západné Tatry (Western Tatras), which is one of several mountain ranges in the country that bears the name 'Tatras'.

Productivity centre bridges gap between theory and practice

TO HELP the country's education system catch up with the industrial sector's needs - such as qualified labour, research and innovation - the Slovak Productivity Centre (SLCP) is linking theoretical education with practical industry experience.