List of author's articles, page 36
Questions raised on Constitution Day
IF THE POPULARITY of Slovakia’s Constitution Day holiday can be measured by the number of people who bothered to attend official celebrations held to mark the 20th anniversary of the country’s founding document then Prime Minister Robert Fico should face little opposition if he decides to cancel it. The government wants to cull the number of state holidays as part of a plan to boost the economy.
Slovakia slips again in global index
THE POOR efficiency of Slovakia’s legal framework in settling disputes, perceived favouritism in decisions by its government officials, low public trust in its politicians, the high burden of government regulation and the low quality of government services for improved business performances have this year delivered the country its worst-ever ranking in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report since its original inclusion in 1997.
Slovaks 'at risk of slavery'
DESPITE the adoption of treaties and laws prohibiting slavery, evidence shows that many men, women and children continue to live in modern-day slavery through human trafficking, commented US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the release of the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report prepared by her department.
Lipšic founds 'Nova' party
FORMER interior minister Daniel Lipšic, who in May this year quit the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) after more than a decade as a member arguing that his vision for Slovakia was no longer compatible with its approach, has now announced he is setting up a new party. New Majority, as it will be called, will add yet another name to the plethora of groupings already perched on the right wing of Slovak politics.
Lipšic's Brave New World
“THE WORLD is stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they cannot get.” This is how Aldous Huxley in his novel Brave New World ironically describes the new society and yet this is how some politicians envision their ideal electorate.
Norway demands return of aid money
A SENEC-BASED civic association appears to have underestimated the zero-tolerance approach towards corruption required by a significant donor to Slovakia. The administrators of the Norway and European Economic Area (EEA) Grants system now say that fraudulent use of funds provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to co-finance the construction of a sports stadium in Senec means that all the money they had donated must now be returned.
Top prosecutor tug-of-war continues
JOZEF Čentéš, who was elected by parliament to be Slovakia’s general prosecutor in June 2011, is still waiting to be appointed by President Ivan Gašparovič despite the Constitutional Court in late August rejecting a legal objection by his main rival. The president had insisted that he would not formally install Čentéš until the Constitutional Court had ruled on all cases associated with the selection of the top prosecutor. While Gašparovič has harvested criticism from non-governmental organizations and the current opposition parties, which picked Čentéš as their joint candidate when they ruled the country back in 2011, Prime Minister Robert Fico has said the approach of the president is legitimate.
Cabinet nods through new Labour Code
ALTHOUGH the blueprint of the revision of the Labour Code, which had earlier struck a raw nerve with foreign chambers of commerce among others, has gone through some changes, the draft legislation that received the blessing of the cabinet on August 22 still has its critics. Yet one of the pet projects of the government of Robert Fico will most likely sail effortlessly through parliament thanks to the robust majority of his ruling Smer party, which claims that the changes to the labour legislation will bring more certainties for employees. Representatives of employers, however, called the proposed changes “bad news for Slovakia, investors and the labour market as such”.
Slovakia sticks to deficit reduction goal
THE DEPARTMENTS of education, health, environment and transport will be allowed a bigger bite of the public-finance cake next year compared to what they are getting in 2012. The department of defence, by contrast, will get less than 1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to spend in 2013. But while these budget titbits are interesting, they are of secondary significance when it comes to the European Union’s scrutiny of Slovakia’s draft state budget for 2013, as tabled by the Finance Ministry under Smer’s Peter Kažimír.
Carmakers drive Slovakia's economy
OWING a big thanks to its automotive sector, Slovakia’s economy continued growing in the second quarter of 2012, a time when some of the European giants either stagnated or grew at a rate slower than 1 percent. The country’s economy grew at a rate of 2.7 percent year-on-year, a slight fall from the 3.0-percent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2012. The economy maintained a solid quarter-on-quarter growth at 0.7 percent, the country’s statistics authority reported in its flash estimate on August 14. Nevertheless, market watchers warn that due to the openness of the Slovak economy, Slovakia cannot fully escape the fate of its major trading partners: slower growth or stagnation.
Belize frees Mello
KAROL Mello, Slovakia’s most wanted fugitive, no longer stands accused of violating Belize’s immigration laws: this is only the most recent, somewhat bizarre, turn in the saga to have him extradited to his home country on multiple charges of murder. The affair has put Belize, its legal system, and the Caribbean island of San Pedro, where Mello has been living for several months, firmly on Slovak radar screens.
Mello’s extradition saga continues
THE EXTRADITION saga involving Slovakia’s most wanted man Karol Mello is not anywhere close to its end. Slovakia has been trying to have Mello, who is accused of several serious crimes, including a double murder committed near Bratislava in 2004, extradited to his homeland since he was arrested on July 11 on the Caribbean island of San Pedro where he had apparently been living for several months.
FinMin tables draft budget for 2013
THE GOVERNMENT will stick to its ambition to squeeze the public finance deficit under 3 percent of the GDP; at least this is what the draft state budget for 2013 tabled by the Finance Ministry under the leadership of Smer’s Peter Kažimír suggests. The budget, which will be the most generous to the department of education next year, targets a deficit at €3.317 billion with revenues at €13.6 billion and spending at €16.917 billion, the draft budget suggests.
Slovakia’s economy grew at 2.7 percent
SLOVAKIA’S economy continued growing in the second quarter of 2012, a time when some of the European giants either stagnated or grew at a rate slower than one percent. The country’s economy grew at a rate of 2.7 percent year-on-year, a slight fall from the 3.0-percent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2012. The economy maintains a solid quarter-on-quarter growth at 0.7 percent, the country’s statistics authority reported in its flash estimate on August 14. The volume of GDP at current prices in the second quarter of 2012 reached €17,825 million, a 3.7 percent increase year-on-year, the Slovak Statistics Office said.
Spain's rich experience from immigration
IN JUST a decade Spain received more than 5 million immigrants, equivalent to the entire population of Slovakia, turning the country, which in the past produced emigrants, into a new home for people from other countries. Félix Valdés, the Spanish ambassador to Slovakia, explains how Spain’s previous experience as a country with high emigration rates has made it, in his words, mentally prepared to receive immigrants.
MPs scramble to protect state property
SLOVAK parliamentarians rushed in early August to preserve the state’s immunity from seizure of its property via debt recovery proceedings – or so-called execution – after the Constitutional Court in late July ruled that the extent of the state’s immunity, as defined by existing legislation, was unconstitutional. Parliament, using fast-tracked legislative proceedings, amended the Execution Act, which governs the debt collection process, with 115 of the 116 MPs present supporting changes to preserve state immunity. The Constitutional Court did not, in fact, question the state’s immunity from execution as such, but rather its extent, when it ruled unconstitutional two provisions in the Law on the Administration of State Property and the Law on the State Treasury which had previously guaranteed immunity for the state.
Mika takes RTVS helm
AT FIRST a little euphoria, then feelings of responsibility, followed by humbleness, but now it is down to work: this is how Václav Mika, who previously managed a private television network and a radio station, described his feelings upon being selected to head Slovakia’s public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS). Mika has now joined Slovakia’s long roll-call of general directors since 1989, replacing Miloslava Zemková, who in June was ousted by the new government after just 18 months in the job.
Twilight of the titles
YEARS of diligent study and research resulting in a dissertation work that meets academic standards may not be the only way to acquire an academic title. At least, this is the conclusion one could draw from some of the recently publicised cases of politicians acquiring academic titles in dubious circumstances.
The 'renewable' dream
JOAO Luís Niza Pinheiro, who has been a diplomat all his professional life and served the interests of Portugal in Latvia and Senegal among other places, says that Europeans are now living in a time of fundamental change and unprecedented financial crisis in which their leaders might not know exactly what scenarios the future will present. The Portuguese ambassador to Slovakia is optimistic about Europe’s future, though he warns that the years ahead will be difficult. He says that not even the painful austerity measures that his government has had to take have changed the fact that the Portuguese continue to identify themselves as European citizens.
Inclusion is the solution
MARILIA Sardenberg Zelner Gonçalves was the first woman in the 1970s in Paraná, one of the 26 states of Brazil, to join the diplomatic service. Many years later, the former Brazilian ambassador to Slovakia shared the story of her diplomatic take-off with students of the Milan Rúfus High School in the small central Slovak town of Žiar nad Hronom: “I was very proud of it since it was quite an achievement at that time and the news in fact made it into the local papers”. Gonçalves used her personal story to illustrate how societies, including her own, can progress if social inclusion is defined as one of the main objectives.
- Cypriot recipes: Mahalepi (video included)
- Slovak folklore making a comeback: Unique diversity survived
- Is Slovakia a mafia state?
- Estonian recipes: Estonian potato salad (video included)
- Talking tourism, trade and tapas
- Slovakia is not a mafia state yet, but it is in danger
- Norwegian recipes: Reindeer filet/sirloin (video included)
- Scientists in Slovakia helping create ‘breathing’ glass Photo
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Kanye West is heading to Bratislava. The controversy is not far behind
- Slovakia’s economy enters increasingly troubled waters
- A Slovak helped create Superman Photo
- Foreign workers fill record number of jobs, but fewer are highly skilled
- Villages choke on smoke as landfill fire burns for second month Photo
- “Are you a citizen yet?”
- Kanye West is heading to Bratislava. The controversy is not far behind
- Slovakia’s economy enters increasingly troubled waters
- Caught by the gravitational pull of Europe, this American is rediscovering his Slovak roots
- Foreign workers fill record number of jobs, but fewer are highly skilled
- Scientists in Slovakia helping create ‘breathing’ glass Photo
- News digest: Pellegrini backs NATO’s defence target, praises extended deadline Photo
- Villages choke on smoke as landfill fire burns for second month Photo
- Slovakia’s place in Europe’s economy is shifting
- Bratislava’s Nová Tržnica reinvents itself with Yellow Thursdays Photo
- Kanye West is heading to Bratislava. The controversy is not far behind
- Slovakia’s economy enters increasingly troubled waters
- Caught by the gravitational pull of Europe, this American is rediscovering his Slovak roots
- Rare brain-eating amoeba kills child in Slovakia
- Foreign workers fill record number of jobs, but fewer are highly skilled
- From Seattle to Bratislava: an American’s reverse migration story
- News digest: Hungary hijacks Slovakia’s foreign policy – for several awkward hours
- From Seattle to Bratislava: an American’s reverse migration story
- A year later, Bratislava’s laser spectacle goes global
- From not knowing an English word to being a noted radio announcer in the US Video
- Rare brain-eating amoeba kills child in Slovakia
- Slovakia has given up on attracting quality people. It is disgusting, says expert
- Bratislava’s Nová Tržnica reinvents itself with Yellow Thursdays Photo
- Two Slovaks deported from US and Vietnam in separate incidents
- Last Week: Revenge-hungry Smer voters feast on donated ammunition case
- Hungarian allies of Orbán win tender to build Slovak military hospital
- Saying one thing at home and another abroad is a risky game, warns British diplomat
- “Are you a citizen yet?”
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- This Slovak startup uses AI to crush contract chaos – and just raised €3M to go global
- Slovakia’s economy enters increasingly troubled waters
- News digest: Pellegrini backs NATO’s defence target, praises extended deadline Photo More articles ›
