Archive of articles - February 2010, page 12
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EC once again raises its eyebrows
SLOVAKIA wasn’t in much of a hurry to revamp a piece of legislation which has been a thorn in Brussels’ side since 2008 and which prompted the European Commission to put another letter of formal notice in writing to the government of Robert Fico in early January 2010. Despite the media placidly downplaying the urgency of the letter, Prime Minister Robert Fico did summon a special cabinet session for February 5 to extinguish the threat of the EC putting its finger on the EU funding vein to Slovakia.
Kysuce Museum gets new teeth and a zither
THE COLLECTIONS of the Kysuce Museum in Čadca have been enriched with two mammoth teeth, a 100-year old violin, a Valencia zither and a book of sermons dating back to 1841 written by František Xaver Daniš, a priest, translator and supporter of the 1848 Slovak revolt against Hungarian rule. As the museum’s communication manager, Lenka Jancová, told the SITA newswire, last year was one of the museum’s most successful for adding to its collections – it acquired as many as 471 historical items, including several rarities.
Tourist attractions in Košice Region
Košice Region, like the whole area of eastern Slovakia, is rich in historical and natural sites. Of seven Slovak sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, Košice Region boasts the largest site – the Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst. Spreading over 56,650 hectares this geological formation features hundreds of caves with such underground gems as Domica and Gombasek as well as the Ochtinská Aragonit and the Dobšinská Ľadová ice caves. A small village named Ruská Bystrá is another site on the UNESCO list with its wooden Greek Catholic church in the Orthodox tradition. The region is also rich in Gothic architecture with the monumental Gothic Dome of St. Elisabeth in Košice being the largest church in Slovakia and the easternmost Gothic cathedral of the western type in Europe. Tourists can explore other Gothic jewels in eastern Slovakia along the so-called Gothic Route. One should also not forget the famous Tokaj wine region.
Slovakia’s eastern regions want highway links to Europe and the west
MISSING highway connections to the rest of the country and the European motorway network, which discourages investors, and rising unemployment are two of the main sore points of citizens living in Slovakia’s most eastern part of the Schengen zone – in Košice Region and Prešov Region. Even though the regions differ significantly in their economic development, both say they offer attractive business opportunities and an educated labour force. The second biggest city in Slovakia, Košice, has already proved that its environment is suitable for the IT sector and related R&D to accompany its traditional metallurgy and mechanical engineering industries. Prešov Region sees tourism as only barely tapped to date and believes that its region has the best preconditions for further developing tourism in all of Slovakia.
Slovak paramedics return from Haiti
THE SLOVAK mission to earthquake-stricken Haiti has been successfully accomplished, the TASR newswire reported.
Residential real estate prices fall again
THE TREND of price declines in residential real estate continued into the fourth quarter of 2009.
Hungary to pay language fines
THE HUNGARIAN government is still highly concerned about Slovakia’s amended State Language Act and its consequences for the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia. At least this is what one could assume from its recent decision to devote a chunk of its state resources to a fund to protect the linguistic rights of ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia and, ultimately, to pay any fines levied for violation of the State Language Act.
SDKÚ: Taking a closer look
THE CHARGES that Prime Minister Robert Fico laid against his principal political opponent, Mikuláš Dzurinda, have so far led to Dzurinda’s withdrawal from the campaign leadership of his SDKÚ party, and to a possible criminal investigation of the party’s financing.
Košice Region general facts
Capital: Košice
Good timing and bad timing
GOOD timing is everything, especially in politics. A speech or a bold initiative with perfect timing can smash political opponents, germinate new public enthusiasm or even move the masses. Bad timing can spoil the best of intentions and even turn once revolutionary ideas or leaders to pathos.
Dzurinda won't lead SDKÚ into elections
WHEN it seemed like Mikuláš Dzurinda had withstood swirling pleas for changes within the party he founded a decade ago and was again firmly set to lead his party into Slovakia’s June elections, the chairman of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) dropped a bombshell when he announced on February 2 that he was withdrawing his name from the party’s candidate list.
Quote of the week
“Even if a company has its seat in a garage, a mailbox or even an egg- -shell, I cannot exclude it as long as it fulfils the rules of the game.”
Tourist attractions in Prešov Region
Prešov Region sees itself as the region with the best preconditions to become a popular tourist destination. It has untouched nature as well as precious historical sites, of which many have made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage list. Levoča, Spiš Castle and the Associated Cultural Monuments are probably the most well-known. Another is the Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve, which is a small but exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a fortified medieval town. The Gothic Catholic church in Hervartov, the Evangelical church in Kežmarok, and Greek Catholic churches in Bodružal and Ladomirová also bear the label of UNESCO sites. Other architectural gems can be found in Spišská Sobota, now part of Poprad. After the railway bypassed this once wealthy mining city, burgher houses on its square preserved their Gothic and Renaissance forms. And in Solivar, near Prešov, visitors will find a number of preserved technical monuments connected with salt extraction. Of natural sites, Prešov Region boasts the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians which spread into Ukraine, also on UNESCO's list. These are not the only natural beauties of the region. The High Tatras and Pieniny national parks are also located in Prešov Region. Near Prešov there is a unique area in the Slánske Vrchy mountain, Dubník, known for precious opals. The first written document concerning the extraction of precious opals in Dubník dates from 1597, but the mines went through their largest expansion in the 19th century. The vast majority of mining buildings have been preserved and it is possible to walk through the old shafts or search for opals. As for modern culture, a museum dedicated to pop-art artist Andy Warhol was established in 1991 in Medzilaborce. Warhol's parents came from Miková, a small village near Medzilaborce.
Some of the companies and investors in Košice Region
BSH Drives and Pumps, Michalovce, www.bsh-group.sk
Industrial parks in Košice Region
Industrial parks (Priemyselný park - PP) in hectares (ha):-PP Trebišov – total area of 10 ha-PP Michalovce – total area of 17.6 ha-PP Kechnec – total area 332 ha-PP Rožňava – total area 15.9 ha
Akože
THIS HAS been the week of make-believe, of as-ifs, of pretending, in short, of "akože". PM Fico is "akože" appalled by the untransparent financing of the opposition SDKÚ, which two election periods ago used a bamboozling network of Swiss, British, and off-shore companies to pump money into the party and even now has trouble explaining where the cash was coming from. Yet in reality, Fico must be used to much worse since his own coalition can’t explain why hundreds of millions of euros from state contracts are ending up in shady firms with ties to coalition politicians.
Industrial parks in Prešov Region
Industrial parks (Priemyselný park - PP) in hectares (ha):
Prešov Region successfully snags EU funds
PREŠOV Region is economically the weakest of Slovakia’s eight regions. Economic development has somewhat bypassed this border region and poor or missing infrastructure has discouraged foreign investors from coming to the area. On the other hand, Prešov Region has been the most successful region in Slovakia in drawing European Union funds which it has been using as extensively as possible to solve its sorest problems. The region plans to continue drawing EU funds and sees a huge potential for developing more extensive tourism, as this part of Slovakia boasts precious historical sites and untouched nature, as well as UNESCO-designated sites and innumerable natural attractions.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Ryanair: New flights from Bratislava
A LEADING European budget airline company, Ryanair, announced on February 1, that it intends to add several new European flight destinations from Bratislava airport by the middle of this year, the TASR newswire wrote.
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- A bus now runs through it: Slovakia and Poland’s Tatras finally connect
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Man appeals for help finding strangers who saved his life
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- A bus now runs through it: Slovakia and Poland’s Tatras finally connect
- Man appeals for help finding strangers who saved his life
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- Man appeals for help finding strangers who saved his life
- Slovak physicist: I do not employ doctoral students; I make them go abroad. I expect them to push us forward
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- Weekend: Summer kick-offs around every corner Photo
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- After years of straddling two worlds, this American is now reconnecting with his Slovak roots
- Why a British teacher chose Slovakia as home Audio
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- Slovakia’s secret weapon is living abroad
- Bratislava unveils its first 3D-printed bus stop Photo
- Where can vegetarians and gluten-free diners eat out in Bratislava?
- Slovak physicist: I do not employ doctoral students; I make them go abroad. I expect them to push us forward
- News digest: Ex-judge Harabin cleared of charges over pro-Russian war comments
- Slovak universities, SAV, local governments top 2025 trust rankings
- Irish outlet hails Slovak spa town as top European holiday spot
- “We, the European Ministers of Culture, are calling to open our eyes to the richness of our own cinema”
- Weekend: Summer kick-offs around every corner Photo
- With more tax irregularities detected, Slovakia still collects less
- Slovak brewers win hearts in Porto with beer inspired by a childhood favourite
- News digest: Renaissance lady vanishes, ministry brushes off ‘stupid questions’ More articles ›
