Archive of articles - December 2013, page 6
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Lajčák: Accepting more illegal immigrants would be empty gesture
The European Union realises the potential risk that Islamic terrorists may be among the thousands of migrants that are pouring to Europe from conflict in the Mideast and northern Africa, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák told the TASR newswire in reaction to statements made by his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino.
Danube Wings fly no more
Slovak airline Danube Wings, established in 2008, and associated with tycoon Vladimir Poor wound up its air transport activities, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote on December 13.
Baki Sadiki convicted again by court
Drug baron Baki Sadiki was convicted in a retrial and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The Prešov District Court ruled him guilty of the particularly grave crime of unauthorised production and trading of drugs, the Sme daily reported on its website on December 16.
Open protest letter against slate of candidates for the ECHR
Slovakia‘s slate of candidates for the position of judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is one of the worst scandals seen in recent months, wrote signatories of the open letter addressed to the Slovak government, in which they protest against the slate of candidates drafted by the government and the Judicial Council.
Fico mum on presidential run
PRIME MINISTER Robert Fico has issued public statements on any number of issues recently – the state budget, priorities of his government for the next two years and taxes among them – but he has remained tight-lipped about the one issue that most intrigues observers: Will he run for president next year?
Glossary: Rules for financing minorities change
Spectator College provides readers of The Slovak Spectator who are trying to improve their English with glossaries of useful and frequently used words and expressions from stories published as part of the Spectator College as well as in the rest of the newspaper. As well as this special glossary, which relates to the article Rules for financing minorities change, you can find more expressions in our Glossary for politics & business or in the List of names of institutions in English and Slovak.
Ryanair eyeing Bratislava as hub
IRISH low-cost carrier Ryanair could open a regional hub at the Bratislava Airport (BTS) next year, Ryanair General Director Michael O’Leary said during a meeting with Slovak Ambassador to Ireland Dušan Matulay in Dublin on December 10.
Love is all he needs?
THE LOVE of voters is all Prime Minister Robert Fico needs to throw his hat into the presidential ring, or so it seems. But the situation around the presidential bid of Fico, leader of the Smer party and the first prime minister in Slovakia’s post-revolutionary history to run the country without so much as a worry about a coalition partner, is far from this simple. It is much more complicated for Fico, Smer and people who pull the country’s political strings. Above all it is a complicated issue for the Slovak public, which has not had much luck when picking its presidents.Voting for the ‘lesser evil’ is nothing new for the Slovak public, which had to do so to prevent controversial three-time prime minister Vladimír Mečiar from moving into the presidential palace. In 1999, this was certainly his top aspiration after he and his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) were thrown out of power the year before. Five years later in 2004, Mečiar made another attempt, only to be defeated by his former right-hand-man Ivan Gašparovič, who incidentally owes his first term as president fully to Mečiar.
Christmas comes to town
EVEN for those who dislike Christmas, the festive holiday season has become difficult to avoid. Christmas markets have ballooned in numerous Slovak cities and towns, offering seasonal drinks and food, as well as gifts and souvenirs.
Norwegian cuisine: Treat from the kingdom of salmon
SALMON lay their eggs in fresh water, where they develop only to later migrate to the open ocean, where they become sexually mature and then return to their natal streams to spawn, where most of them die. The Norwegian Ambassador to Slovakia, Inga Magistad, finds the natural life-cycle of salmon fascinating, and even though today one of Norway’s primary exports is being bread in large salmon farms, she says that traditional salmon fishing is still very popular with many Slovaks who go fishing in salmon rivers along Norway’s coasts in the autumn.
Firms can still donate 2 percent of tax to NGOs
CIVIL SOCIETY groups are breathing a sigh of relief after the government agreed to keep the current 2 percent assignation scheme that allows corporate entities to divert a portion of their paid corporate tax to non-profit groups. The decision changes course on what was a planned reduction in the amount that firms could donate to non-governmental and non-profit organisations.
ĽudiaĽuďom.sk wins awards
THE ONLINE portal ĽudiaĽuďom.sk (meaning People to People in English) won the ITAPA 2013 prize - a special mention in the category of New Services for advancing charity in Slovakia to a new level and for using philanthropy to create an individualised relationship between the donor and the recipient.
'Women need someone to look up to'
ONE OF the earliest role models of Marjorie Maginn, the president and executive director of the Women in Government foundation, was her mother. Maginn’s parents bought and expanded a candy delivering business, which her mother went on to lead. Since all of the children helped with the family business, they quickly learned how a business functions.
Slovaks unfamiliar with active aging
MIDDLE aged people living in Slovakia are often less active in the labour market and tend not to have hobbies or interests that would prevent them from becoming lonely or spending all their time in front of the TV. In fact, experts are now sounding the alarm about the need for Slovaks to learn about active aging so as to lead more productive and meaningful lives.
Nature in medieval art in Bratislava
DESPITE Bratislava Castle’s old age, until recently most of its exhibits focused on more modern art and collections. However, the Slovak capital’s dominant landmark now houses Art and Nature of Medieval Europe, a unique exhibition of items from the Middle Ages, lent by the Cluny National Museum of the Middle Ages in Paris, in return for the successful exhibition, With Gold and Fire: Slovak Art at the Dawn of the Middle Ages, prepared by the Slovak National Gallery for the Cluny Museum in 2010.
Harabin plans to turn to Strasbourg again
THE CASE of the state versus Supreme Court Chairman Štefan Harabin, which has been dragging on since 2010, will probably move to Strasbourg once again.
Economic growth to accelerate
WHILE the regular quarterly prognosis of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has not drawn a lot of media attention, perhaps because it does not differ significantly from the previous one from September, it struck the right cord with Prime Minister Robert Fico. As he said at a special press conference, the central bank prognosis has made his government’s targets for economic growth and unemployment more realistic.
Christmas tram in the capital
VISITORS to the capital and anyone using public transport there have been able to ride a special Christmas tram since December 6. Illuminated with Christmas lights, the old CKD-Tatra T2 type vehicle, manufactured in the former Czechoslovakia in the 1950s-60s, ventured out on its first trip through the Bratislava city centre at 16:00, the TASR newswire was told by Bratislava Transport Company (DPB) spokesperson Adriana Volfová.
Rules for financing minorities change
A glossary of words as well as an exercise related to this article are also published online.
Post issues 2 stamps
THE WORKS of two artists were the inspiration for two new postage stamps issued in November by the Slovak Post. The motif of the first stamp is the work of Ján Jakub Stunder (Jean Jacques Stunder), which depicts a portrait of Count Ján Jozef Hadik de Futog drawing a portrait of Stunder.
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