THE SLOVAK government has strengthened the influence of the state in the economy, and at the same time there has been a rise in corruption and party cronyism, according to the annual Global Report on the State of…
16. mar16. Mar 2009, at 0:00
The first round of the presidential election will take place on Saturday, March 21. The Slovak Spectator put six questions before all seven candidates for the position of President of the Slovak Republic and is…
16. mar16. Mar 2009, at 0:00
Europe is facing difficult economic times, people are worried about their jobs and their concerns are fully understandable, says European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimír…
16. mar16. Mar 2009, at 0:00
SEVERAL human rights problems in Slovakia were noted in the 2008 Human Rights Report prepared by the US Department of State, “including some continuing reports of police mistreatment of Romani suspects and lengthy…
9. mar9. Mar 2009, at 0:00
THE CONTRACT recently awarded to supply and operate Slovakia's electronic highway toll system must be published, Prime Minister Robert Fico has said. He made the comment while speaking to public broadcaster Slovak…
9. mar9. Mar 2009, at 0:00
THE BIGGEST uproar so far over the upcoming presidential election was not caused by the candidates themselves, but rather by the statements of Catholic priests and a bishop giving their opinions of various…
9. mar9. Mar 2009, at 0:00
IN ONE of the worst traffic accidents in Slovakia’s history a collision between a bus and a train near the village of Polomka in central Slovakia claimed 12 lives. A passenger train with two carriages crashed into a…
2. mar2. Mar 2009, at 0:00
FROM early September restaurants in Slovakia should take on a different look, as the familiar smoky haze which currently pervades many of them begins to lift – at least partially. Under new rules approved by…
2. mar2. Mar 2009, at 0:00
THE NEW Slovak foreign affairs minister, Miroslav Lajčák, says that the presence of the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) in the ruling coalition is not a problem. And three weeks after taking office he…
23. feb23. Feb 2009, at 0:00
THE NEXT presidential election will take place in Slovakia in just one month, and there is still uncertainty about how many people will turn out to vote. The consensus among analysts seems to be: not many. What is…
23. feb23. Feb 2009, at 0:00
DETAILS of a contract worth hundreds of millions of euros, the outcome of the biggest tender in Slovakia’s history, for which only one bid was finally accepted, will not be released to the public.The Transport…
23. feb23. Feb 2009, at 0:00
IT HAS EMERGED that the Slovak Defence Ministry cut its staff by 1,500 in a series of dismissals affecting civilian employees which began last year and continued up to the end of January. The ministry is now looking…
16. feb16. Feb 2009, at 0:00
MARIÁN Janušek, Slovakia’s minister for construction and regional development, is still in his job despite more information emerging about a controversial tender, worth €119.5 million (Sk3.6 billion), which was…
16. feb16. Feb 2009, at 0:00
SLOVAKIA'S membership of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are the strategic underpinnings of the country’s foreign policy and continuing this orientation and softening the…
16. feb16. Feb 2009, at 0:00
NEW RULES came into force on Slovakia’s roads on February 1 with the primary goal of reducing the country’s high rate of accidents. The speed limit in towns and villages has been lowered to 50 kilometres per hour…
9. feb9. Feb 2009, at 0:00
DISSOLUTION of the ruling coalition is not looming, the three chairmen of the coalition parties emphatically state. But the chair under the Minister of Construction and Regional Development Marian Janušek, a nominee…
9. feb9. Feb 2009, at 0:00
THE LONG-RUNNING investigation into the case of Hedviga Malinová, a young Hungarian Slovak woman who was allegedly assaulted in Nitra in 2006 but was later accused by police and government ministers of making up the…
9. feb9. Feb 2009, at 0:00
Do politicians misuse even the tragedy of the Holocaust to gain popularity? And does anti-Semitism in Slovakia have a green light or not? These are some of the controversies which have surfaced after this year’s…
4. feb4. Feb 2009, at 0:00
MIROSLAV Lajčák was appointed Slovakia’s new foreign affairs minister on January 26, replacing Ján Kubiš. Lajčák is currently serving as the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and…
2. feb2. Feb 2009, at 0:00
THE SITUATION in the publicly owned broadcaster Slovak Television (STV) is even more critical now than it was nine months ago, before Štefan Nižňanský was elected the new general director and STV was leaderless.
2. feb2. Feb 2009, at 0:00