Archive of articles - May 2013, page 8
If you desire to read an old article, use the search bar or select the publication date.
Slovaks fear job loss the most
AS MANY as 58 percent of Slovaks are afraid of losing their jobs, according to the results of a survey published by the GfK agency on May 14. The second most common fear concerns health (52 percent), followed by the fear of winding up in desperate financial straits, the TASR newswire reported.
Fitch confirms rating for Slovakia
INTERNATIONAL rating agency Fitch Ratings has confirmed the rating of Slovakia’s long-term liabilities in both domestic and foreign currency at A+ and its short-term liabilities at F1, with a stable outlook.
General prosecutor saga continues
THE ONGOING constitutional drama over who should be appointed Slovakia’s next general prosecutor has taken a further series of bizarre twists and turns, involving the Constitutional Court – and even the husband of its chief justice.
Quote of the week
“You can call me Tired Joe; I am frustrated that we have been living through the crisis for five years.”
Slota may avoid jail for drunk-driving
DRIVING under the influence of alcohol in Slovakia can mean up to one year in prison if the offender is found to have more than one part per thousand of alcohol in their blood. In such cases, in order to speed up the prosecution process, the police can use a so-called super-fast-tracked procedure which allows criminal proceedings to begin after a two-day investigation. But when Ján Slota, the former leader of the Slovak National Party (SNS), was arrested on suspicion of drunk-driving in mid-May this option was not used, and he may now avoid prison.
Duelling for justice
“I REGRET that we do not live in a time when I could challenge you to a duel,” writes the husband of the president of Slovakia’s Constitutional Court in a letter to one of the parties to an ongoing dispute at this same court, telling him that he would leave “the choice of weapon” up to him. The husband, who is himself a lawyer and, thus, some of the ground rules of the judiciary should not be foreign to him, says in his letter to the man who filed an objection of bias against his spouse, that his parents must be ashamed of him and that “obviously your sick desire to sit in the chair of the general prosecutor has released in you a so-far well-masked churlishness and [revealed your] human limitations”.
Archbishop’s libel lawsuit dismissed
TRNAVA’S archbishop emeritus Ján Sokol will receive neither financial compensation nor an apology from the Týždeň weekly, Trnava Regional Court ruled on May 15, the SITA newswire reported.
An end to the SaS caucus – or not?
OPPOSITION party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), which recently saw five of its 11 MPs depart from its caucus, is no longer entitled to have its own caucus, according to Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška, who announced his decision to scrap the caucus on May 14.
Slovak culture in Marseilles
AS PART of the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) 2013 project, the Days of Slovak Culture began in the French city of Marseilles. This year, Marseilles is sharing the ECOC title with the eastern-Slovak city of Košice.
New €5 banknote goes into circulation
MARIO Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, launched into circulation a new €5 banknote in Bratislava in early May. The move followed the first meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council to be held in Slovakia, the SITA newswire reported.
White-tailed eagle found dead in Záhorie, another is saved in Latorica
THE POPULATION of rare eagles in Slovakia suffered a double blow this spring: in the Horný Les (Upper Forest) national nature reserve in the Záhorie region in western Slovakia, a white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) was found dead in early April. The female had been poisoned. Only two weeks earlier another rare eagle, this time an Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), was found dead, also poisoned.
Indian cuisine: Greetings from the Land of Spices
CARDAMOM, carom seeds, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fenugreek seeds, fennel, nigella, saffron, haldi, curry leaves, tamarind, dill and kokam are only a few of the spices typically found in India’s rich culinary palette. Since India’s cuisine is primarily vegetarian, Indians have traditionally used a lot of spices to make their food richer in flavour and in colour, Rajiva Misra, the Indian ambassador explained, while his family chef, Janardana Prasad, was preparing a dish which boasts a variety of spices: tandoori chicken.
Indian cuisine: Tandoori chicken (video included)
Ingredients and preparation.
Indian cuisine: Matar pulao (video included)
Ingredients and preparation.
Energetické Centrum power supplier receives record fine
Power supplier Energetické Centrum has been handed a record fine of €1 million by the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) after it found the firm had charged prices up to 300 times higher than the limit set by ÚRSO, ignored complaints from customers, been late repaying overcharged fees and had hindered consumers who tried to change suppliers.
Statistics Office: EU-harmonised inflation was 1.7 percent in April
Year-on-year EU-harmonised inflation reached 1.7 percent in April, a fall of 0.2 percentage points compared to the rate recorded in March, the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) announced on May 16.
Slovaks must now inform the state if they want to leave their own country
Slovak citizens and residents who want to leave the country for more than 90 days will have to tell the state, on pain of punishment, after governing Smer party MPs passed an amendment to the Act on Reporting Citizens' Residencies on May 16. As of July 1, Slovak citizens or foreign citizens resident in Slovakia will be obliged, by law, to report to the relevant state authority in charge of permanent residency, prior to their departure, any absence of more than 90 days. Anyone who fails to notify the authorities will be guilty of an offence and may face a penalty.
Smoking in cafes inside shopping centres to be restricted
A new law, the Protection of Non-smokers Act, passed by parliament on May 16 will introduce the same rules for restaurant and cafes located inside shopping malls that currently apply to all other cafes and restaurants, meaning that areas for smokers and non-smokers must be divided by a solid wall.
The history of landfills in Pezinok
IN 1996, Pezinok’s old landfill, which was opened in 1964, was privatised and sold to a company led by businessman Ján Man Sr. A year later the state authorities re-classified the landfill from a ‘local’ site to a ‘regional’ one. In September 2002, Man Sr’s company, Ekologická Skládka, requested a land use permit to build a new landfill. However, the municipality of Pezinok that same year blocked the new landfill site by adopting a new master plan from which it was removed.
Writers, journalists and bloggers meet in Krakow
HUMAN rights and the meaning of freedom of speech in central and eastern Europe and beyond are being debated at an international conference held by ICORN and PEN International WiPC taking place in Krakow between May 14 and May 17, the Villa Decius Association, a non-governmental cultural organisation based in Krakow, informed The Slovak Spectator.
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process More articles ›
