Archive of articles - November 2014, page 10
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Glossary: Approaching the November events
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 Approaching the November events, you can find more expressions in our Glossary for politics & business or in the List of names of institutions in English and Slovak.
Free trains with costs
THIS YEAR November 17 is special, apart from recalling the 25th anniversary of the fall of the communist regime, nearly half of the nation will be able to travel for free on most domestic trains from this date on. The discounts come as part of a €250 million social-economic package that Prime Minister Robert Fico says is designed to compensate for recent years of austerity, but the policy has its fair share of critics too.
Shelves are fuller and wallets are fatter
TWENTY-FIVE years ago, Slovakia’s economy was centrally-planned and prices as well as wages were regulated. The fall of the communist regime, apart from civic liberties, also brought to Slovaks a market economy (along with its positive and negative features) greater selection in shops as well as more shopping opportunities.
Exercise: Approaching the November events
This exercise is linked to the article: Approaching the November events
Precarious progress
THOSE who were students in November 1989 were fortunate enough to inhale the first sips of freedom on Slovakia’s squares while watching the corroding regime crumble are now into their mid-forties. Their children no longer understand references to pre-Christmas queues for mandarins and bananas, excruciating passport controls with police officers looking into bags to make sure travellers did not surpass the quota on candies purchased in Hungary, or May 1 parades in pioneer uniforms. They are the last generation to measure boredom in school by classes about “scientific communism”, but they are also the generation who still were able to catch the first train to foreign countries and opportunities their parents – the so-called Lost Generation – never dreamt of.
Synagogues serve art, culture
IN SLOVAKIA the fate of synagogues, which used to be quite numerous, is lamentable. As the Jewish commu-nity has shrunk considerably, and the two totalitarian regimes that swept across the country in the 20th century were not supportive, many of these buildings were destroyed, used for other – often quite destructive – purposes, or simply left abandoned to decay.
Tipos head ousted over credit card
THE CEO and board of directors chairman of the state-owned Tipos lottery company Ladislav Kriška has offered his resignation after the Sme daily reported him using the company card in a luxury store in Prague.
One World marks 25 years of freedom
AMONG the many film festivals that take place in Bratislava, or in Slovakia more generally, One World stands out as the one oriented on socially engaged films and human rights. It includes dozens of documentaries, several debates, exhibitions and concerts; and this year it takes place between November 20 and 25 at four venues downtown in the capital.
Ryanair to open its base in Bratislava
IRISH low-cost airline Ryanair will open its first base in Slovakia, in Bratislava, next March. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary unveiled the company’s plans in Bratislava on November 13. Investments are planned at €160.6 million.
Quote of the week
“I have sleeping mats here for my colleagues.”
Enel gets three bids, waits for more
THE MAJORITY owner of the dominant power producer Slovenské Elektrárne (SE), Italian Enel, has received three offers for its 66-percent stake in SE but expects that further bids could still arrive. In the meantime, Slovakia has not yet agreed over an increase of the budget to complete the second two blocks of the nuclear power station in Mochovce.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Kiska okays two referendum questions
PRESIDENT Andrej Kiska revealed how he will vote in the referendum initiated by the Alliance for Family (AZR) that seeks to constitutionally define the concept of family. As a conservative person, he will support the first two questions referring to the definition of marriage and rights of adoption for same-sex couples. He is, however, against the question regarding sexual education at schools, the president told the press on November 12.
Central monument lacking
WHILE four commemorative plaques recall events from November 1989, Bratislava still lacks a central monument. The first such memorial is under preparation and it should stand on Námestie Slobody (the Freedom Square), Ivo Štassel, historian and the director of the City Institute of Protection of Monuments (MUOP) in Bratislava, told the SITA newswire.
History of revolution
WHAT is called the Velvet (zamatová) or Gentle (nežná) Revolution in the then Czechoslovakia and which brought down the totalitarian communist regime in 1989 started in Slovakia on November 16, while all of the November 1989 events took place in an environment of falling regimes in neighbouring countries such as East Germany, Hungary or Poland as well as in the Soviet Union.
Architectural awards granted
THE SLOVAK Architects Society (SAS) granted the awards for 2014. The Emil Belluš Award went to the head of SAS, one of the organisers, and professor at the University of Visual Arts in Bratislava Ján M. Bahna. He became the 25th laureate of this prize for lifetime achievement.
Nitra baked the biggest bread
NITRA ba-kers celebrated October 16, World Bread Day, by baking the record loaf in Slovakia. The “classical consumer wheat-rye bread” was 229 centimetres long, 83 centimetres wide and weighed 36 kilograms, thus becoming the biggest bread in the history of Slovakia and making it into the Slovak Book of Records. It was as big as 36 one-kilogram loaves – a normal size sold in shops – and weighed close to the 38 kilograms that is the annual consumption of bread in Slovakia per capita.
Something for every photo-freak
THE MONTH of Photography is an event that has been bringing this genre of visual art to Bratislava annually for 24 years now. Thus, November is the highlight of the year for all photo freaks in and around Slovakia.
Twenty–five years of freedom
TWENTY-FIVE years after the protests that helped launch the Velvet Revolution in what is now Slovakia, people in the country see November 17, 1989 as one of the positive events of their history, but remain wary of social and job insecurity, according to a survey by the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) in cooperation with the Focus polling agency and the Czech Public Opinion Research Centre.
Student veterans recall 1989
STUDENTS had crucial roles in the Velvet Revolution as they were the first targets of riot police, organised subsequent protests and helped to persuade the rest of the public to get involved. Onetime student leaders look back fondly on those days.
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- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process More articles ›
