Archive of articles - February 2012, page 14
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Court bans book about Gorilla file
A SLOVAK court has banned a book about alleged high-level political corruption written by investigative journalist Tom Nicholson prior to its publication. In a ruling issued in early February the court ordered Nicholson's publisher, Petit Press, which also publishes The Slovak Spectator, to desist from publishing the book or any other documents based on the so-called Gorilla file, a document which contains transcripts purporting to originate from conversations covertly recorded by the country’s SIS intelligence service between 2005 and 2006. The file is already accessible on the internet. The court also ordered Nicholson to submit his final manuscript as well as documents that he had gathered in order to write the book, the Sme daily reported.
Czech avalanche survivor gets €12,000 bill
A CZECH tourist set off an avalanche in a mountain in the Low Tatras in mid January and was lucky to survive. The 41-year-old was one of a group of five hikers who decided to walk from Chopok peak via Ďumbier peak to Čertovica in the Low Tatras on January 18.
Slovak motorcyclist takes fifth place in Dakar Rally
IN HIS third attempt, Štefan Svitko, a 13-time Slovak champion in enduro and cross-country racing and three-time European enduro champ, finished in fifth place in the motorcycle category of the famed Dakar Rally. The Dakar Rally involves trucks, quads (four-wheel cycles), cars and motorcycles, the category in which Svitko competed.
Malinová to receive public apology
THE GOVERNMENT Office will publish an official apology to Hedviga Malinová-Žáková, the ethnic Hungarian who reported that she had been assaulted in Nitra in 2006 apparently because she had spoken Hungarian in public. She was later pilloried by several government officials and accused of providing a false statement to the police, the TASR newswire reported.
Anonymous ‘visits’ state portals
IN LATE January several state-sector websites went down for several hours after being attacked by hackers who claimed to be associated with the international group Anonymous. They said they were expressing their disagreement with Slovakia’s planned ratification of the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The group also said that its actions were intended to express support for the January 27 rally in Bratislava dubbed Gorilla Protest, which came as a response to the so-called Gorilla file, a document leaked onto the internet which contains apparent transcripts from an intelligence service bugging operation in 2005-6 that implied high-level political corruption.
Finance ministry loses a deputy
THE FINANCE Ministry lost one of its two state secretaries (deputy ministers) when Branislav Ďurajka left his post on February 1, the TASR newswire reported.
PAS presents its wish list
THE BUSINESS Alliance of Slovakia (PAS), a lobbying group for employers, has published a list of its members' priorities that it wants the the next government to adopt. Among the most important items on its so-called Wish List 2012 are: macroeconomic stability; a consistent fight against corruption; an improvement in the enforceability of laws; a more effective social system; and improvement of the education system.
Economic sentiment indicator rises
THE ECONOMIC sentiment indicator (ESI) in Slovakia improved at the beginning of 2012, rising by 1.1 points month-on-month to the level of 90.2 points. The Statistics Office attributed the upswing to a more optimistic outlook among industrial businesses as well as consumers, the SITA newswire reported.“The indicator’s rise was mainly influenced by forecast growth in production during the next three months as well as higher demand for industrial products,” Statistics Office representatives said, as quoted by SITA.
Buková's famous lime kilns
THE TOWN of Buková lies in a picturesque area straddling the Small Carpathian and White Carpathian mountain ranges. Even though it was built in the mountains, it was still party to many historical events. The so-called Czech Road passed near the town from the early Middle Ages. This long trade route connected Bohemia and Moravia to the territory of present-day Hungary and traces of the ancient road can still be found in the mountains nearby.
Experts bemoan Slovakia's position
SLOVAKIA still occupies an unenviably low position in international rankings of innovation performance. This is despite declarations by successive Slovak governments that innovation is the only way for Slovakia to move forward economically and remain competitive.
Piano moves on to Slovenia
PIANIO Media, the enterprise that started a media pay-wall in Slovakia in May 2011 has now expanded to another country as the scheme was introduced in Slovenia in mid January, David Brauchli from Piano Media told The Slovak Spectator.
Old Košice cinemas
MILAN Kol-cún, a history buff who regularly organises what he calls “roamings” through his home city of Košice, recently took a group of enthusiasts on a weekend tour of all the cinemas in the eastern metropolis, even to the sites of cinemas that no longer exist.
Prime minister hails outcome of EU summit
LEADERS of the European Union agreed to create a new whip to discipline any member state that is fiscally irresponsible and 25 EU countries nodded their approval to the pact while two said no. If ratified by the 25 countries’ parliaments, quite a few EU countries could feel the sting of the whip if they do not manage to bring their future budget deficits below 3 percent of GDP. The exact mechanism for assessing and enforcing penalties has not yet been agreed.
Teaching pilots around the world
TRENČÍN-based Virtual Reality Media is a small company that is globally successful in a highly-sophisticated field – it manufactures flight simulators.
Army equipment deal to be investigated
ONE OF the most expensive public procurements ever undertaken by the Ministry of Defence is to be checked by police investigators after Prime Minister Iveta Radičová on January 30 filed a criminal motion with the police.
TV stations sanctioned for 99% ads
SLOVAKIA’S Broadcast and Retransmission Council (RVR), also known as the Licensing Council, held an extraordinary session on February 2 and sanctioned private broadcasters TV Markíza and TV JOJ for breaking the law by broadcasting advertisements for the 99 Percent – Civic Voice party that the council said had a political character, the TASR newswire reported, noting that Slovak law permits media to carry political advertisements only during a 21-day period immediately before an election.
Few patents issued to Slovaks
WHILE patent disputes and even high-stakes business wars over intellectual property are a regular occurrence outside Slovakia, the number of patent applications routinely filed by Slovaks is very low. The Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote last October that less than 200 patent applications are filed in Slovakia each year, based on data from the country’s Industrial Property Office, and only a fifth of the applications end up being successful.
'Sasanka' is the latest file
SASANKA, meaning anemone in English, is the name of yet another anonymous but potentially explosive document that has emerged on the internet in the run-up to next month’s parliamentary elections in Slovakia. Sasanka surfaced a little more than a month after the so-called Gorilla file appeared, which features purported transcripts of bugged conversations that imply high-level political corruption in 2005-6. The new document, posted on the same server that hosts Gorilla, features SMS text messages allegedly exchanged between the chairman of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), Richard Sulík, and businessman Marián Kočner, whose name has surfaced in several previous controversies in the past two decades.
Nowhere left to turn
GORILLAS and water-dwelling predators, or as the Slovaks call them ‘sasankas’, have been sneakily attacking Slovakia’s electorate over the past month or so, making sure that prospective voters are stripped of their remaining illusions about whichever party they had previously been inclined to vote for. Of course there are groups resistant to disillusionment and who overlook pretty much any political sin as long as they are served up the right promises at the right time by a populist leader. Observers agree that Smer voters will be the most resistant to whatever findings finally emerge from Gorilla, an investigation that the country’s SIS spy agency apparently carried out into suspected high-level corruption in 2005-6.
Noted choreographer turns 85
ŠTEFAN Nosáľ, the choreographer of the Lúčnica folklore ensemble, tells an amusing story. After one show, a man from the Upper Hron region, a Horehronec, entered the dressing room and asked: “Which one of you is Nosáľ?” Nosáľ was somewhat afraid as the man was loud and big and it was not clear what he wanted. After Nosáľ had been identified, the man grabbed him by the lapels, shook him and shouted: “You are doing a good job, now I feel like going to work tomorrow.”
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- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access More articles ›
