Archive of articles - The Slovak Spectator

Greek loan divides coalition

FREEDOM and Solidarity (SaS), one of the four parties of the ruling coalition, has hardened its opposition to any further bailout for Greece, leading to a flare-up in the debate over what stance Slovakia should adopt towards the financially-stricken eurozone member. Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulík, who leads SaS, and the rest of his party have gone so far as to try to limit the mandate of Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš – a member of the largest coalition party, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) – to negotiate the conditions for a loan to Greece. SaS collected 30 signatures to summon a special session of parliament with this goal in mind. The session is scheduled for July 1.

Beata Balogová

Parliament: Inspections into illegal labour will be strengthened

Inspections pertaining to foreigners engaged in illegal labour in Slovakia will be made tougher, according to an amendment to the Illegal Labour and Illegal Employment Act approved by Parliament on Wednesday, June 29.

Finance Ministry: Greek austerity package moves forward

The Greek Parliament approved a fiscal austerity package and privatisation measures, which are expected to open the way for the country to receive another tranche of the current recovery loan.

Water from heavy rains soaks Kežmarok and Matiašovce

Kežmarok firefighters have had to do double duty to battle heavy rains that inundated the region at the foot of the High Tatras mountain range. Operations Officer of the Firefighting and Rescue Corps in Kežmarok Maroš Vaverčák informed the TASR newswire that first, they had to pump water from roads and paths in Kostolné Square, as the local drains failed to absorb the huge amounts. “In cooperation with the town Technical Service, we opened manholes and water has been slowly lowering,” Vaverčák explained. He said that he did not expect any larger problems.

Constitutional Court rules Harabin will lose 70 percent of salary for one year

The Constitutional Court, at a non-public hearing on June 29, upheld a complaint submitted by Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská and found Supreme Court Chairman Štefan Harabin guilty of committing serious disciplinary misconduct, the TASR newswire reported.

Government says eleven Slovak ambassadors will soon complete their missions

Eleven Slovak diplomats are expected to complete their missions in the near future, with nine new ambassadors expected to head Slovakia's embassies abroad, according to a set of proposals approved by the government on June 29, the TASR newswire reported. "The reasons are various," commented Foreign Affairs Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, who said that in one case he decided to withdraw an ambassador because the person had been in the post for too long.

Parliament overrides president's veto of Press Code amendment

The Slovak parliament overrode President Ivan Gašparovič's veto on the amendment to the Press Code on June 29 and did not comply with the president's request that the term 'good manners' be removed from the amendment, the TASR newswire reported. According to the amendment approved by parliament, publishers will be allowed to refuse to publish a correction, reaction or additional notice in response to a published article if this constitutes a crime, misdemeanour or other offence or is at variance with good manners and the legally protected interests of third persons. Gašparovič conceded, as reported by TASR, that the term 'good manners' is widely used in Slovakia's laws but added that it has not been defined. The legislation restricts the right of public officials to reply if the published information concerns their public role. They will still enjoy full rights as private persons. The amendment states that persons will no longer have the right to ask for financial compensation if a correction, reply or additional announcement is not published. Currently, compensation can range between €1,660 and €4,980 based on the decision made by a court. After the amendment becomes effective courts will only rule on whether or not replies should be published.

Slovak cabinet asks for plans to establish Museum on Communism

Plans to establish a Museum on Communism in Bratislava are getting closer to being implemented, the SITA newswire wrote.

Defence Minister Galko says number of troops in Afghanistan may be reviewed

Slovakia may reconsider the number of its troops serving under the international ISAC mission in Afghanistan, Slovak Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko said at a press conference with his Hungarian counterpart, Csaba Hende, in Budapest on June 28, the TASR newswire reported. "We'll wait for an evaluation of our performance and decide based on that. We have a clause in the Manifesto stating that we'll focus on less quantity and more quality and we view this as a quality-oriented contribution," said Galko, as quoted by TASR. The US decision to withdraw some of its troops from Afghanistan will not have an impact on the decision-making process of the Slovak Government, he stated.

Court penalises Harabin

THE PRESIDENT of Slovakia’s Supreme Court, Štefan Harabin, will have to pay a heavy price for his decision to block Finance Ministry inspectors from entering the Supreme Court in order to carry out a financial audit: on the orders of the Constitutional Court his salary is to be cut by 70 percent for one year.

Beata Balogová

Parliament cancels Fico-era retail-chain regulation

The relationship between retail chains and their suppliers will no longer be regulated by law as of August 1. On Tuesday, June 28, the ruling coalition voted to override President Ivan Gašparovič's veto on the law on ‘inappropriate business relations’ approved during the term of Robert Fico, the previous prime minister. The law was aimed at preventing retail chains from abusing their power over suppliers.

Bratislava Airport served almost 113,000 passengers in May

Bratislava Airport served 112,958 passengers in May, 11 percent more than in April and 8 percent less than in May of last year. The airport said that that the positive trend in the volume of transported cargo is continuing, with 12-percent growth registered in yearly terms, the SITA newswire reported. Since the start of the year cargo volumes have risen by 19 percent.

Slovakia's current account deficit in March was €244.8 million

The deficit in Slovakia's international balance of payments widened in both month-on-month and year-on-year terms in April. According to updated figures produced by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the current account posted a deficit of €244.8 million, up from €84.5 million in March.

Disciplinary action filed against two judges for procedural flaws

Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská filed two proposals on Tuesday, June 28, to start disciplinary action against judges in the Bratislava I District Court, the SITA newswire wrote. The first motion suggests opening a disciplinary procedure against the judge whose mistake the minister believes led to the release from pre-trial custody of murder suspect Karol Mello.

NBS: Slovak banks hold €500 million in Greek bonds

Slovakia's banking sector has invested a total of €500 million in Greek bonds, according to data from the central bank (NBS) as of May 31, NBS executive director for financial market supervision Vladimir Dvořáček said on Tuesday, June 28.

Deutsche Telekom to create 500 jobs in Bratislava

The German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom (DT) is to open a service centre in the Slovak capital, the SITA newswire wrote.

US ambassador: Slovakia making progress in combating human trafficking

Slovakia has achieved significant progress in combating human trafficking, advancing from the second grade to the top grade in the USA's three-grade scale, US Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick announced at a press conference at the Interior Ministry on Tuesday, June 28.

Czech president visits Banská Bystrica

Czech President Václav Klaus visited Banská Bystrica on Tuesday, June 28. "We're happy to be here and we see a visible and clear improvement taking place in Slovakia," said Klaus, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

Statistics Office: Over 5.3 million people participated in census

The Statistics Office (ŠÚ) has collected a total of 8.372 million forms from the census of people, houses and flats in Slovakia in May. 5.322 million of these concerned people and 1.980 million houses and flats, ŠÚ head Ľudmila Benkovičová said on Tuesday, June 28.

Parliament overturns presidential vetoes and enacts two laws

With 77 votes in favour, parliament on Tuesday, June 28, broke President Ivan Gašparovič's veto of the amendment to the Act on Use of Minority Languages, the TASR newswire reported.

Archive of articles - June 2011