Archive of articles - July 2013
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Killer of Slovak soldier in Afghanistan not on wanted terrorist list
Alleged Taliban member Lambar Chan, who killed one Slovak soldier and injured two more in a July 9 at the Kandahar airbase, has escaped custody and is now hiding in the territory controlled by the Taliban movement.
More record temperatures Monday, Tuesday cooler
Several heat records were measured by the Slovak Hydro-meteorological Institute (SHMÚ) on Monday, July 29, its spokesman Ivan Garčár told the TASR newswire. “On July 29, we recorded more record values of maximum temperature of air for this day – at about the half of all SHMÚ meteorological stations with daily recordings across Slovakia,” Pavel Faško of SHMÚ said. “The hottest weather was in Dudince – 37.7 °C – which is more than the previous record of 36.5 degree in 1994.”
Poll: Fico and Hrušovský would reach presidential election second round
If presidential election took place this month, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer party) would move on to the second round with 44.6 percent of votes. The second candidate to make it to the second round would be Christian Democratic Movement’s Pavol Hrušovský with 15.2 percent. Fico has not as yet declared his candidacy.
Roma proxy accepts inspection results, proposes recording all police raids
Government Proxy for Roma Communities Peter Pollák (Ordinary People and Independent Personalities-OĽaNO) said he officially accepted the findings of the Interior Ministry inspection concerning the police raid in the Roma settlement in Moldava and Bodvou on June 19. He added that his position, powers and tasks do not allow him to impartially assess the lawfulness and adequacy of the police operation – and to “tell the verdict” whether the police acted in a standard way.
Kaliňák: Police didn't violate regulations in Moldava
The police didn't violate any regulations when they went looking for wanted individuals and stolen goods at the Roma settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou (Košice region) on June 19, according to the results of an official investigation carried out by an Interior Ministry inspection team. “I can sum up that the investigation didn't prove or find any infringement of generally binding regulations and internal orders during the police action in question,” Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said on Tuesday, July 30, as quoted by the TASR newswire. He denied that any children were injured, as had been alleged. The minister added that this was a standard police operation. “The police checked the identity of 18 people, using means of coercion in the case of seven of them as they didn't respond to the orders of the police officers. All the forms of coercion used in the process have been assessed as legitimate,” he said. Two of the Roma inhabitants are said to have attempted to attack the police with axes, for which they were arrested on the spot and charged with an attack on a public official. Meanwhile, the civic association ETP Slovensko, which has provided social services to the inhabitants of the settlement at a local community centre, maintains that the police SWAT team injured a number of people, including a six-week-old infant. Kaliňák further claimed that the incident was exaggerated in the media, and reiterated that this was a standard move aimed at finding wanted individuals. The area has recently seen a significant increase in crime, he said. The case is being monitored by Amnesty International and the European Centre for Roma Rights.
State gives most money to Slovaks living in Serbia
Among Slovaks living abroad, the biggest state financial support goes to those in Serbia. A report on state policy in connection to Slovaks living abroad reported that in 2012, the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad (ÚSŽZ) allocated about €1.12 million.
Ombudswoman: Košice relocated Roma without legal base
Ombudswoman Jana Dubovcová sent a letter to the Košice city authority saying that Košice had no legal base or support in Slovak Constitution – nor in the Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms - when it evicted Roma from the settlement in Nižné Kapustníky last October.
Kaliňák heralds savings of €1.5 million in election bill
Changes to laws governing elections should yield savings of up to €1.5 million over the next two years, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said Tuesday, July 30. Kaliňák also said he was surprised by criticism from opposition politicians regarding changes to election law now before parliament. As things stand, elections are governed by six different laws. The ministry is seeking to unify the rules for all elections. The process also involves amending the act on political parties and political movements. The new law would re-introduce a moratorium on campaigning 48 hours before elections, while the pre-election period during which the publication of election polls would be banned is to be extended from 14 to 21 days. "We're ready to accept all reasonable proposals that may make the law better, ensure its transparency and fairness," said Kaliňák as quoted by the TASR newswire. Changes are set to be discussed first by the government this summer. According to the minister, no accord has been struck on an independent authority that would be put in charge of the funding of political parties and their campaigns. Before such an authority is established, across-the-board agreement in parliament has to be reached, said Kaliňák. In the interim, the Interior Ministry is charged with overseeing compliance with the rules and the possibly levying of fines. He added, however, that NGOs dislike the idea of politicians keeping tabs on politicians.
More than 70,000 Slovaks have been unemployed for four years or longer
At the end of June, 71,700 jobseekers in Slovakia have been without work for four years or longer, accounting for 17 percent of the unemployed registered at labour offices.
Slovakia's economic sentiment deteriorates in July
Slovakia's economic sentiment deteriorated in July as the three-month moving average of the economic sentiment indicator dropped 1.3 points from the revised June level to 89.4 points, the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) reported Tuesday, July 30.
Trnava man faces prison for illegal dumping
An unnamed 37-year-old man from Trnava faces five years in prison for unauthorised waste disposal. He is suspected of having illegally transporting construction waste to arable land owned by the state Slovak Land Fund (SPF) in Trnava-Farársk. The cleaning of the plot will cost a total of €135, 000, the Sme daily wrote in its Tuesday, July 30 issue.
OECD wants Slovakia to apply criminal liability of companies
The OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions (WGB) is dissatisfied that Slovakia has still not adopted legislation on criminal liability of legal entities. The most recent criticism was aimed at Slovakia's Justice Ministry representative during the June plenary session of the Working Group in Paris. After the meeting, WGB sent a letter to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Čentéš’ objection of bias was ignored, Constitutional Court tries again
The Constitutional Court (CC) sat on Monday, July 29 and adopted the first verdict concerning the case of elected but never appointed candidate for prosecutor general, Jozef Čentéš. The CC panel consisting of Rudolf Tkáčik, Ľudmila Gajdošíková and Iveta Macejková decided that justices Ján Auxt and Ľubomír Dobrík are not excluded from further decision-making in his case.
SHMÚ: Piešťany records Slovakia's record overnight temperature
Meteorologists in Piešťany, in the Trnava Region, recorded Slovakia’s highest ever overnight temperature Sunday (July 28-29, 27.3°C, climatologist Pavel Faško of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) told TASR. “The temperature in Piešťany didn't fall below 27.3 degrees Celsius at night,” said Faško, pointing to the previous record of 26.4 degrees Celsius that was set in Kuchyňa (in the Bratislava Region) in August 1992.
Just 1 percent of Slovak workers had second job in 2012
Slovakia has among Europe’s lowest rates of workers having two employers simultaneously, at just 1 percent, according to Poštová Banka. Only Bulgaria (0.4 percent) has a lower rate and the trend runs contrary to working patterns in Sweden (8.5 percent) and Denmark (7.9 percent). The EU average was 3.8 percent in 2012.
Zuno Bank denies it is leaving Slovakia
The Internet-based Zuno Bank has no plans to leave the Slovak market or transfer its activities to Tatra Banka, Zuno’s former spokesman Lukáš Tomis told the TASR newswire July 29. He was reacting to reports by the Czech website E15 which said that the Austrian-owned Raiffeisen, the mother bank of both Zuno and Tatra Banka, is debating on what to do with its Zuno arm, a 'virtual' bank with no branches.
SHMÚ warns against extreme heat
Slovakia is in the midst of a wave of extremely high temperatures. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) issued a third-degree warning against heat for Banská Bystrica, Trnava and Nitra Regions meaning temperatures might rise to 39-40 Celsius degrees. They also issued a second-degree warning for the Bratislava, Trenčín, Košice, Prešov and Žilina Regions, the SITA newswire reported on July 29.
Week-long holiday in Slovakia cost €300 per person last year
The average holiday in Slovakia usually lasts for a week and costs around €300. Citing data from the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) for last year, Poštová Banka analyst Eva Sadovská stated that Slovaks are also inclined toward taking shorter holidays of two-three days in their homeland, ideally on weekends, the TASR newswire reported on July 25.
Government to reduce VAT if deficit under 3 percent, Fico says
If the state budget deficit drops below 3 percent of GDP, the VAT will drop from current 20 percent to 19 percent, as it is stated in the relevant legislation, said Erik Tomáš, the Government Office spokesman. Tomáš was responding to news reports that said the government may introduce legislative changes seeking to maintain VAT at its current level despite the potential drop in deficit under 3 percent of GDP, the TASR newswire reported July 26.
Condition of two injured Slovak soldiers stabilises
Two soldiers injured by an Afghani terrorist in Kandahar in the beginning of July has improved and is stabilised, Defence Ministry spokeswoman Martina Balleková told the TASR newswire on July 26.
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