Slovakia turns 30

Slovaks and Czechs mark the 30th anniversary of their breakup and the birthdays of their respective states on January 1, 2023.

The Slovak Spectator has marked the anniversary with a special issue that maps the 30 years of Slovakia’s existence in different areas, based on interviews with people who have observed the country from various unique perspectives and now have stories to tell about it.

Hugo Green and his son.

Curious about life behind the former Iron Curtain, Englishman's plan to move to Slovakia for six weeks changed to forever

Hugo Green, a British Chartered Accountant, had heard very little about Bratislava before his relocation in 1994.

Zuzana Čaputová

Zuzana Čaputová: I'm tired. But I still believe there's hope to change things for the better (interview)

I hope that the elections will be an opportunity for people to show that they have not given up on our country, says the president.

On New Year’s Eve, Czech and Slovak hikers meet at the Veľká Javorina peak on the border of the two states, to celebrate the Czecho-Slovak friendship. This photo shows a gathering in 2017.

Slovakia has made it, often against the odds

Having lived through 2022, the present look back may be the dose of hope that we all need.

Nigel Baker

Don't worry, Slovakia, you'll do well

British Ambassador Nigel Baker goes back to 1993 and greets the newborn Slovakia from the future.

First Ukrainian refugees arrive in Slovakia in late February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Political analyst and former journalist Marián Leško.

Foreigners like it here because they do not have high expectations

But we Slovaks know we could have done better, says veteran analyst Marián Leško.

Dan Stoll

A tale of two journeys

Tracing back along the same route as the bus 30 years before, the High Tatra Mountains took my breath away, again.

Slovakia adopted the euro in 2009.

In its thirties, it's time for the Slovak economy to start using its brain

Slovakia has eventually done what it had to do in the 1990s. Now it needs a new wave of reforms.

Canadian Ben Pascoe runs a cafe in Bratislava's Old Town.

The Canadian bookseller who took a chance and found home in post-Mečiar Bratislava

In the Slovak capital, where he planned to stay for a year, Ben Pascoe runs a popular café that tourists rarely stumble across.

Head of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pavol Šajgalík.
Choices, choices: Slovak consumers have a much wider selection of goods to choose from in 2022 than they did in 1993.

Slovaks can afford much more than they could 30 years ago

Independent Slovakia was founded during a wrenching economic transformation.

A new, high-rise downtown in Bratislava has sprouted in what was previously an industrial zone.

Bratislava as a capital city: Changed skyline, but iconic buildings lost

‘Lukewarm’ approach by authorities and wild privatisation left their mark.

Sibyla Mislovičová

All Slovaks are passive bilinguals, linguist says

Thirty years after divorcing, Czechs and Slovaks still understand each other without hesitation.

Slovak PM Vladimír Mečiar (left) and Czech PM Václav Klaus hold a talk in Brno, Czech Republic, on August 26, 1992.
Mečiar and his supporters in the 1990s.

Why we didn't want the breakup of Czechoslovakia

Images from the history of the Sme daily: After the 1992 elections.

Illustrative Stock Photo

In marriage, Czechs are no foreigners to Slovaks

25 years after the Czecho-Slovak breakup, people living in Czecho-Slovak marriages do not feel like they are living with a foreigner.

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