Archive of articles - May 2012, page 5
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SDKÚ elects Frešo as leader
FORMER justice minister Lucia Žitňanská said in her pitch for the leadership of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) that she wanted to make it the first choice for non-left-wing voters, offering a trustworthy alternative to Smer, the dominant ruling party. However, delegates at the SDKÚ’s May 19 congress instead voted to elect her main opponent, Pavol Frešo, the president of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, as chairman. According to the latest opinion poll, the SDKÚ is scoring so poorly that it would not even make it into parliament if an election were held now.
Second pension pillar might change again
REFORMING a country’s health-care system or its old-age pension scheme is one of the most sensitive political undertakings anywhere in the world, as it is closely watched by retired citizens as well as by those who may not retire for several decades. But in Slovakia, regular changes in the country’s pension scheme have almost become routine if one counts the number of changes that parliament has made to the system since its current form was introduced in 2004.
Only candidate for KDH chairman’s post so far is incumbent Ján Figeľ
The current chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), Ján Figeľ, is the only candidate who has been proposed for the post by the party’s district conventions to date. The KDH will elect its chairman and party leadership at a congress on June 23 in Ružomberok. KDH deputy chairman Pavol Abrhan said he does not expect the name of another candidate to emerge from the KDH district congresses.
Six Afghans apply for asylum in Slovakia
Border police arrested six Afghan citizens in the small hours of Tuesday, May 22, morning in the village of Ruská (Košice Region), close to the Slovak-Ukrainian border, the TASR newswire reported, citing Sobrance Border Police Directorate spokesperson Agnesa Kopernická.
Haščák’s court case fails, Gorilla file can be distributed online
The Gorilla file, which describes alleged corrupt practices in Slovak business and politics, will not be removed from Slovak-hosted websites, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote on May 23. The Regional Court in Bratislava refused a request for an interim ruling which a co-owner of the Penta financial group, Jaroslav Haščák, had sought in order to force the providers of 13 Slovak websites to take down the document, which is allegedly the product of a secret investigation by the Slovak Information Service (SIS) spy agency. Haščák features prominently in the file.
Defence Ministry prepares merger of intelligence services
Slovakia will probably merge its two military intelligence services from next year. The Defence Ministry has prepared a draft amendment to the law on military intelligence according to which the Military Intelligence Service (VSS) and the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS) counter-intelligence service will be merged into one unit, to be called Military Intelligence, on January 1, 2013. The amendment is currently undergoing interdepartmental review.
Judicial Council will elect new members next week
The Judicial Council, Slovakia independent judicial oversight body, has agreed to allow judges to vote on new members to the council. The body’s chair, Supreme Court president Štefan Harabin, had been expected to block the vote, following his disagreement with changes made to the voting procedure by the previous government, but at end of a two-day meeting in Dudince, the members of the council agreed that the vote would take place next week, the Sme daily reported.
OECD predicts Slovak GDP will grow by 3 percent in 2013
Slovakia’s economy will be driven mainly by exports and company investments this year, while consumer expenditure should stay low due to the high jobless rate and negative impacts of fiscal consolidation, according to a prognosis presented by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the TASR newswire reported.
SPP withdraws two legal complaints against regulation rulings
Slovak gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) has withdrawn two of three legal complains it had filed against the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) pertaining to its price-setting decisions. The Bratislava Regional Court also dismissed a motion for suspension of the proceedings also submitted by SPP, the TASR newswire reported on May 22.
Slovakia will contribute €390,000 to Afghanistan each year, says Gašparovič
Leaders attending a two-day NATO Summit in Chicago agreed that Afghanistan will receive financial help worth €3.1 billion per year to develop its security forces from 2014, with two thirds of the sum covered by the US. Slovakia will contribute about €390,000 a year, according to Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič.
A real Slovak national hero (video included)
The name Milan Rastislav Štefánik can be seen nearly everywhere in Slovakia – on memorials, statues, schools and street-names, even on airports. But who was Štefánik and why was he so important for the country?
Souvenirs from Slovakia
Traditional SouvenirsThe usual souvenirs, such as magnets, book markers, postcards and calendars with images of Slovakia’s beautiful sights, can be found in many souvenir shops and tourist information offices across the country.
Slovakia will participate in helicopter training in the Czech Republic
During the NATO summit held in Chicago on May 21 and 22, Slovak Defence Minister Martin Glváč confirmed, as reported by the Sme daily, that Slovak soldiers will join a training programme for helicopter pilots in the Czech Republic.
Judicial Council elections could be postponed
The sessions of Slovakia’s Judicial Council scheduled for May 21 and 22 in Dudince are the last session of the current council as the judges were supposed to elect eight new members in the following week, the Sme daily reported.
Labour Ministry says cut in contributions to second pension pillar expected
Jozef Burian, the State Secretary (i.e. deputy minister) of the Labour Ministry told the Sme daily that the amount that a person can contribute to the country’s so-called second pension pillar, which is privately managed, will be reduced as of January 2013.
President Gašparovič thanks Slovak hockey players
While attending the NATO summit in Chicago on May 21, President Ivan Gašparovič issued a thank you statement to the Slovak national ice hockey team for representing the country so well at the World Championship in Finland and Sweden, the TASR newswire reported. "I think they also did a good job representing NATO because it was a game of NATO against the Russian Federation," the president stated, as quoted by TASR.
Slovakia's jobless rate at 13.4 percent in April, a drop from March
Slovakia’s unemployment rate was up by 0.46 percentage points from April 2011 at 13.4 percent, the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (ÚPSVaR) announced on May 21 while noting that April’s rate was a fall from the rate of 13.69 percent recorded in March, the TASR newswire reported. A total of 362,180 people were immediately available for work in April, with their number rising by 5 percent, or 16,877 people, year-on-year. A total of 397,912 people were listed as unemployed at job centres in April. If the unemployment rate is calculated from this figure, which includes people who are not immediately available for work due to a number of reasons such as recovery from an accident or ailment, the unemployment rate would be 14.73 percent.
Brezno student captures third place in Intel ISEF 2012 competition
Peter Horváth, a high school student from Brezno in Banská Bystrica Region, won third place out of 1,600 students from 68 countries at the Intel ISEF 2012 competition in Pittsburgh, USA, the TASR newswire reported. Iveta Kureková of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region told TASR that the participants in the competition held May 14-18 competed in 17 scientific categories that included mathematics, chemistry and IT as well as medicine, social sciences and ecology.
Business survey reports business environment deteriorated in Q1 2012
The business environment in Slovakia deteriorated over the first quarter of this year based on the results from the Business Environment Index regularly prepared by the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS) based on a survey of businesses. The figure for the first quarter of the year stood at 85.1 points, a drop of 2.24 percent compared with the previous quarter, the SITA newswire reported.
PM Fico says Slovakia will back France's proposal on eurobonds
Slovakia will back France's initiative to issue eurobonds to fund specific investment projects as well as cover debts involving eurozone countries under certain circumstances, said Prime Minister Robert Fico at a session of the parliamentary committee for European affairs on May 21, the TASR newswire reported. "French President Francois Hollande has indicated that both project and standard eurobonds are his foremost priority and one that should lead to some sort of restructuring of European debt. Our view for now is that when this idea comes up for debate we'll stand on France's side," said Fico, as quoted by TASR. Regarding the upcoming informal summit of European leaders in Brussels planned for May 23, the prime minister indicated that some uncertainty prevails within Europe as to the agenda for the meeting and noted some lack of clarity about the shape of France's proposal. "Speaking on behalf of the Slovak government, I'm stating that we're ready to support initiatives aimed at supporting economic growth but without putting the right objectives for consolidation of public finances at risk. Slovakia is committed to consolidating its public finances as planned, that is to achieve a deficit of 4.6 percent this year and 3 percent in 2013," Fico stated, as quoted by TASR, adding that Slovakia will back issuance of new project bonds as well as an increase in the capital of the European Investment Bank. He also stated that in "no way will we agree to the re-distribution of EU funds between EU-member countries". "Despite the situation in Greece and the status of the permanent rescue facility ESM being serious and topical issues, they won't be brought up at the forthcoming informal summit. The issues will be broached at the official summit in the latter half of June instead," Fico stated, as quoted by TASR. But the prime minister added that the mood at this week's meeting will set the tone for forthcoming Europe-wide discussions after the change in the French presidency.
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