Presidents at GLOBSEC conference make recommendations

The three state presidents attending the Bratislava Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC) between April 12 and 14 said the most effective way to contribute to the solution of current European as well as global problems will be solving them on the national level, according to a GLOBSEC news release. Slovakia’s Ivan Gašparovič, Slovenia’s Danilo Türk and Croatia’s Ivo Josipović also supported further integration of the Balkan countries into the Euro-Atlantic structures, stated the organiser of the forum, the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC) in the release.

16. apr 2012

Countrywide Events

Western SLOVAKIA

16. apr 2012

Gorilla Protesters accuse police

A POLICE intervention during the Gorilla Protest held in Bratislava on March 9, one day before the general election, will be investigated by the Office of the General Prosecutor after 172 citizens submitted complaints regarding the actions by the police on that day, the TASR newswire reported.

16. apr 2012

No room for mobile virtual operators?

THE SLOVAK mobile market is saturated, with mobile service penetration reaching 116 percent at the end of 2011. This means that, in effect, everyone who wants to use mobile services already does so. This may be one of the reasons why Slovakia has so far been without a ‘real’ mobile virtual network operator, i.e. a mobile phone operator that provides services using assets leased from an existing mobile network operator.

16. apr 2012

UNDP says Roma are marginalised

CELEBRATING International Roma Day (April 8) should serve as an opportunity to draw attention to the rich culture and history of Roma as well as to the fact that large groups of Roma are marginalised in society, stated a press release from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Bratislava Regional Centre, the TASR newswire reported.

16. apr 2012
Miroslav Dvorský performs in Jenúfa.

Jenúfa returns to SND

AN OPERA by famed Czech composer Leoš Janáček was staged in 1920, the inaugural year of the Slovak National Theatre (SND) in Bratislava, and it has returned to that stage for the first time since 1986. Janáček’s opera has been staged under two different titles, Jej pastorkyně (Her Stepdaughter) and Jenúfa, both referring to the principal character.

16. apr 2012

Report: Former mayor charged

A SLOVAK news outlet has reported that police investigators have charged Andrej Ďurkovský, the former mayor of Bratislava, with violating his duties in managing public property. The report was published by news website Aktualne.sk, but police have not officially confirmed it, the TASR newswire wrote.Ďurkovský was elected as an MP for the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) in 2010 but later resigned from the party. The criminal investigation centres on his period as mayor of Bratislava and controversy over the planned demolition of the city’s PKO cultural centre.

16. apr 2012
Jana Dubovcová

Ombudswoman wants to do more

BRINGING the Office of the Public Defender of Rights closer to citizens, demonstrating that the office’s services are available to everyone regardless of their political, social or ethnic background, and making Slovakia a better place to live are the main objectives of Jana Dubovcová, who was officially appointed Slovakia’s new ombudswoman on March 28. Dubovcová, a former judge and Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) MP, replaced Pavel Kandráč, who had served two five-year terms as ombudsman. Kandráč defeated Dubovcová in a head-to-head vote when the office was first created in 2002.

16. apr 2012

Surplus in foreign trade account

SLOVAKIA’S foreign trade account posted a surplus of €347.7 million in February, an increase of €170.2 million year-on-year, the country’s Statistics Office announced on April 5. Overall exports reached €4.747 billion in February, rising by 8.7 percent on an annual basis, while imports increased by 5 percent year-on-year to reach €4.399 billion, the TASR newswire reported.

16. apr 2012

Contemporary expo at SNG

ALTHOUGH the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) primarily focuses on the country’s art history and its periods and trends, it occasionally offers solo exhibitions of progressive artists as well as other innovative projects. The current exhibition of works by Denisa Lehocká fits into the latter category.

16. apr 2012

Past Smer MP to head Property Fund

BRANISLAV Bačík, a Smer MP between 2006 and 2010, has been named the chair of Slovakia’s National Property Fund (FNM). The FNM is the country’s privatisation agency and owns swathes of state property, shares in state-run companies and shares in partially-privatised companies. Bačík was nominated by the new leadership of the Economy Ministry, the TASR newswire reported.

16. apr 2012
Education Minister Dušan Čaplovič

Čaplovič sets new goals for schools

STRONGER links between educational institutions and businesses, an accent on technical fields of study, more money for universities that conduct research and development, and an overall approach that is more responsive to the needs of the labour market: these are the first themes that Education Minister Dušan Čaplovič has offered to those who are seriously concerned about the condition of the education sector in Slovakia. With Slovakia currently sporting one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the European Union, the challenge of reversing the current trend of producing unemployable graduates is clear.

16. apr 2012

O2 is again ‘Operator of the Year’

THE YOUNGEST mobile operator in Slovakia, Telefónica Slovakia, which provides services under the O2 brand, has won the public competition ‘Techbox Operator of the Year’. With 61 percent in a popular vote it won the contest for a third consecutive year, the company wrote in a press release in late February.

16. apr 2012

Mobile roaming fees to fall

THE EUROPEAN Commission and European lawmakers and governments have reached an agreement to reform mobile roaming fees, allowing mobile customers to pay less for calls, texts and web services when travelling abroad, in a measure that could hit the profits of telecom operators, the Reuters newswire reported.

16. apr 2012
Pupala points to what he believes is a long-lost fortification.

Amateur plots out ancient fortification

AMATEUR archaeologist Milan Pupala might have uncovered a long-lost hillside fortification in the village of Utekáč in east-central Slovakia and measured and plotted out the walls of the fortification that are partially visible from a nearby hill.

16. apr 2012

The first trams in Košice

THIS PICTURESQUE colourised postcard dates back to the early 1920s and captures the city centre of Košice. It would not be easy to determine the period of the postcard without seeing the tram.

Branislav Chovan 16. apr 2012

Court to decide over Harabin

A PLENUM of Slovakia’s Constitutional Court has accepted a motion filed by former Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská against Supreme Court President Štefan Harabin and will undertake further proceedings on the motion.

16. apr 2012
City relaxation with a bicycle.

Bratislava and Trnava to get people on bikes

BRATISLAVA wants to begin an automated system of bicycle rentals for residents and visitors and the city government has launched a competition to arrange for it, with the goal to have the first phase ready this summer. Competitors can submit proposals until the end of April describing how they will cover operational costs, guarantee maintenance of the bicycles and offer a minimum of 11 stations, each with 10 bicycles.

16. apr 2012
The Slovak market may be too small for MVNOs.

Finding niches in a saturated mobile market

IN STATISTICS about the telecoms sector in Slovakia, mobile virtual network operators are often mentioned. However, there is in fact no real mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the Slovak market, even though some attempts to establish one have been discussed. There are, however, several branded resellers. These, unlike MVNOs, which provide services on assets leased from a mobile network operator, have joined forces with existing operators to resell their products and services. Even though the media has recently speculated about the arrival of an MVNO, market watchers see little space for new operators in Slovakia’s highly saturated mobile market.

16. apr 2012

Orange plans to enter ICT market

ORANGE Slovensko, one of the two biggest mobile operators in Slovakia, plans to enter the market for information and telecommunications technologies (ICT) this year.

16. apr 2012
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