Archive of articles - December 2012
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New Year‘s celebrations around Slovakia
ALTHOUGH the economic crisis has reduced the traditional New Year‘s celebrations in some Slovak towns and cities - and modified them in others – still others plan to keep the tradition and lure inhabitants as well as visitors to the streets.
Sadiki finally arrives to Slovakia
The government’s special plane brought a wanted Kosovar Albanian drug lord Baki Sadiki to Slovakia on board of a on Friday, December 28, afternoon, the TASR newswire reported.
Skuhra will lead the ministerial intelligence service
Slovak media informed that Ľubomír Skuhra is to become the director of a new Defence Ministry's intelligence service. Defence Minister Martin Glváč has confirmed that Skuhra is taking over as of January 1. Skuhra is the current head of the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS). The MilitaryCounterintelligence Service will be established starting January 1, when VOS and the Military Intelligence Service (VSS) merge.
Over 13,000 savers exit pension system's second pillar in 3.5 months; 7,600 joined in
Over 13,000 people have opted out of the pension system's second private, or capitalisation pillar since it was re-opened as of September, according to figures from insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa running to the middle of December. As a result, the pension-savings companies are set to return a total of €41.91 million for 13,156 savers who have unsubscribed from the second pillar. Meanwhile, 7,632 people joined the private pillar, the TASR newswire wrote.
Slovaks sent close to 32 million text messages on Christmas Eve
Slovak mobile-phone users sent over 31.8 million text messages and made close to 16.5 million phone calls on Christmas Eve, the TASR newswire learnt on December 25. Data from Slovakia's three mobile-phone operators - Orange, Slovak Telekom and O2 - indicate that most calls were made between 10:00 and 11:00. Meanwhile, the peak time for texting didn't come until between 13:00 and-15:00. At the same time, customers of the three mobile-phone operators sent a total of 750,000 multimedia messages (MMS) on December 24.
Over 360 people treated in UNB emergency rooms on Christmas Eve
More than 360 people were treated at the emergency departments of Bratislava's University Hospital (UNB) - which in fact comprises five hospitals in the city - on Christmas Eve, the TASR newswire learnt from UNB spokesperson Petra Stano Maťašovská on Tuesday, December 25. The number of patients represents a rise of some 20 percent on the year.
Million of foreign tourists have visited Slovakia this year
The number of foreign tourists visiting Slovakia is growing. Compared to last year, their number has increased by nearly 150,000 people, the SITA newswire reported on December 27.
The economic sentiment is the worst in last the three years
The mood in the Slovak economy continues to fall. For the third month in a row the economic sentiment indicator dropped by 2 points to 81.8 points, which is the worst result in the past three years, the SITA newswire reported on December 27.
Sulík: Procházka might be an acceptable presidential candidate
MP for the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Radoslav Procházka might be an acceptable presidential candidate, said chair of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Richard Sulík. He discussed the possible nomination of Procházka during a meeting of leaders of the opposition parties, the Sme daily reported on December 28.
Poll: 58 percent of Slovaks happy with setting up of independent state
FIFTY-eight percent of Slovaks view the creation of independent Slovakia on January 1, 1993 in positive terms, according to a poll carried out by the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Focus agency and the Centre for Public Opinion Research (CVVM) of the Czech Academy of Sciences released on December 27.
Nearly 450 Slovak troops spend Christmas on missions abroad
A total of 447 Slovak troops are spending Christmas away from home, with servicemen stationed within ISAF mission accounting for more than half of the total, TASR reported on December 25.
Bank in Bratislava robbed at gunpoint just before Christmas
Police are investigating a bank robbery that occurred on Bratislava's Vajnorská Street late on December 24, spokesperson for Bratislava Regional Police Headquarters Petra Hrašková told TASR newswire. Just after 9 p.m., an armed man entered the branch of an unspecified bank and, at gunpoint, demanded money from the bank teller. He subsequently fled the scene with some €50,000, TASR reported.
La Sylphide in the Christmas season and beyond
One of the festive season’s pieces offered by the Slovak National Theatre is the romantic ballet, La Sylphide. It premiered only in September 2012 and has not been played since.
Letter from the publisher
Dear readers,KRÁSNA Hôrka Castle destroyed by fire; the Catholic Church firing the archbishop of Trnava without explanation; Slovakia returning from the ice hockey world championship with a silver medal; and Fico’s new cabinet taking the reins: these are only some of the numerous stories that our readers found most popular on the spectator.sk website.
Kosovo Supreme Court affirms extradition of Baki Sadiki
The extradition of wanted Albanian drug lord Baki Sadiki from Kosovo to Slovakia was confirmed by the Kosovo Supreme Court on Thursday, December 20, TV Markíza reported on its late evening news show on the same day. The Supreme Court affirmed the verdict of a lower-instance court, with the extradition to be signed yet by the justice minister, the TASR newswire wrote. Baki Sadiki was sentenced to 22 years in prison [in absentia] in Slovakia for drug trafficking, but chose to flee the country. He was apprehended in Kosovo by Interpol earlier in October.
EU Commission withdraws legal action over waste management law
The European Commission withdrew its legal action against Slovakia at the Court of Justice of the European Union over the country's initial failure to adopt measures vis-a-vis the EU's directive on waste management, the TASR newswire learnt on Thursday, December 20. The EU Commission withdrew its legal action after Slovakia's Parliament passed an amendment to the Act on Waste Management in fast-track proceedings in October. The haste was due to the fact that Slovakia had at first failed to implement the EU directive it was supposed to incorporate into its legislation by the end of 2010. Consequently, sanctions of €17,136 loomed over the country for every day of delay in implementing the directive. "I consider this to be an acknowledgement of our adopting the necessary measures to prevent Slovakia from paying the high fine," said Environment Minister Peter Žiga. He added that the ministry is now working on a complete overhaul of the Act on Waste Management that will address the issue in a comprehensive manner. As a result of incorporating the legislation into Slovakia's statutes, some legal definitions were amended while others were introduced vis-a-vis new concepts. The new legislation also introduced alterations to the ranking of waste management, with priority given to waste prevention and to cutting the adverse effects of waste on the environment.
Unemployment rate almost at 14 percent in November
Unemployment in Slovakia rose by 0.61 percentage points year-on-year in November (0.25 p.p. month-on-month) to 13.94 percent, the Labour, Social Affairs and Family Centre (ÚPSVaR) announced on Thursday, December 20. The labour offices registered 377,000 job seekers immediately available to take up a new job in November, 21,000 up y-o-y, the TASR newswire quoted the ÚPSVaR report. In total, there were almost 420,000 unemployed in November, but many of them were not immediately available to start work for a variety of reasons (recovery from accidents or illness or late-term pregnancies, for example). In regional terms, the highest unemployment rate was in Prešov region (20.01 percent), ahead of Banská Bystrica (19.99 percent) and Košice (18.99 percent). Among districts, Rimavská Sobota district - with a large Roma population - had the highest jobless rate in Slovakia at 34.65 percent. Conversely, Bratislava I district had the lowest unemployment rate - 4.15 percent in November.
Constitutional Court rejects complaint of Miloslava Zemková
Constitutional Court rejects complaint of Miloslava Zemková
Slovakia reforms its state administration
Reform of the state administration, the project called ESO (Efficient, Reliable and Open Government in Slovakia), will bring huge savings tothe state budget, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday, December 19, after the cabinet meeting.
Parliament fails to approve resolution condemning Mečiar's amnesties
Parliament on Wednesday, December 19, failed to approve a resolution condemning the amnesties decreed in 1998 by then-acting president Vladimír Mečiar concerning the kidnapping of the former president's son Michal Kováč Jr to Austria in 1995 and the marred referendum in 1998. Only 62 lawmakers out of 142 present in the chamber voted for the proposal, sponsored by Christian Democratic Movement-KDH MP Pavol Hrušovský. The resolution stated that the amnesties were immoral and unprecedented decisions that were at odds with the principles of legal certainty and justice. Hrušovský in the debate said that the kidnapping of the former president's son is a black stain on the history of contemporary Slovakia, and it is necessary to remove it inasmuch as this is possible. "The act took place indeed - Kováč's son was abducted. Don't bury our heads in the sand," said Hrušovský as quoted by the TASR newswire. [The then-president's son was the subject of an international warrant based on his alleged involvement in the large-scale fraud of a Slovak company called Technopol. - ed. note] The Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), which was headed by Mečiar's associate Ivan Lexa in 1995, was strongly suspected of carrying out the kidnapping at a time when disputes between Mečiar and then president Michal Kováč were escalating. The referendum on direct vote of the president by citizens and Slovakia's membership of EU and NATO was marred by Mečiar's interior minister Gustáv Krajči and it ended in fiasco – and without a result. After the change of power following the general election in late 1998, parliament enabled the investigation of Krajči – involving an alleged fraud and misconduct – but the investigation had to be halted as Mečiar's amnesties covered the entire issue of the so-called 'marred' referendum. In the intervening 14 years, there have been innumerable attempts to annul the amnesties.
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- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
