List of author's articles, page 4
Hepatitis A epidemic strikes eastern Slovakia
SEVERAL hundred children from the community of Lomnička and surrounding areas in eastern Slovakia are now recovering after being hit by a hepatitis virus type A (VHA) epidemic in mid-October.
Preserving what remains of a vanishing past
As an employee of the BBC she traveled the world, meeting dozens of people who today hold important positions. Her Portobello production company helped to make the Oscar-winning film Kolja, as well as others better known in Slovakia such as The Life and Unusual Adventures of Private Ivan Čonkin (Život a neobyčajné dobrodružstvá vojaka Ivana Čonkina) and Dark Blue World (Tmavomodrý svet). Katya Krausová emigrated from Czechoslovakia to London in 1968 at the age of 18, following the occupation of her country by Warsaw Pact troops. Today, along with photographer Yuri Dojc, she is searching Slovakia for clues as to what became of people who survived the Holocaust in this country, as well as information about those who perished. About what is becoming of the world of Slovak Jewry.
Authoritarianism rules, OK?
ACCORDING to Ivan Lexa, the former head of Slovakia’s secret service (the SIS), parliament should consider repealing the resolutions it passed approving his arrest and prosecution. “To respect history, but also the purity of the Slovak Parliament, it should consider whether these resolutions by parliament - of which I was a member - should not be formally cancelled,” Lexa said on October 9, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Last-minute vote gets Fico’s budget moving
IN A LAST-MINUTE vote the cabinet of Prime Minister Robert Fico has approved the draft state budget. By law, a draft had to be approved by October 15; it now goes to a vote in parliament. The budget - which assumes revenues of €13.222 billion (Sk398 billion), expenditure of €14.109 billion (Sk425 billion) and hence a deficit of €886.7 million (Sk26.7 billion) - sailed through cabinet without any major struggles, puzzling both the observers and the political opposition. It would leave the general government deficit at 1.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
PM rejects NGO criticism
NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations have repeatedly raised the alarm over allegations of political cronyism, saying that Slovakia has become increasingly insensitive to obvious corruption, and that even corruption itself has increased. But in response Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused NGOs of having become part of the opposition, and attacked them for criticising the ruling coalition’s leading members.
STV stung by talk of crisis
CURRENT and former managers of the public broadcaster Slovak Television (STV) have spoken out recently about the dire financial situation at the station, which they attribute to gross mismanagement.
SNS boss crosses another line
JÁN Slota, chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS), reached a new low, analysts say, in recent comments directed at Hungary and a member of its government. While delivering a speech in the village of Pavlovce, in the Prešov region, on October 5, Slota compared Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Kinga Göncz to Hitler.
Border killings remain unpunished decades later
THIS October, less than a year after Slovakia joined the Schengen zone, a German woman named Christa Tautz came to Bratislava to see the place where her son, Hartmut, died a painful death.
U.S. may lift visas soon
FOLLOWING an official visit from Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič on October 9, U.S. President George W. Bush stated that he expects Gašparovič to receive a "positive decision" by mid–November on whether the visa requirement for Slovaks will be officially lifted.
New analysis affirms foul play in Remiáš case
THE EXPLOSION that killed Róbert Remiáš, the go-between for a key witness to the abduction of Michal Kováč, Jr., in 1996 was without a doubt caused by a car bomb.
Social values show change
A NEW European Values Study presented by the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) on September 24 found that Slovaks place the highest value on family and work.
Uproar over autonomy
PÁL CSÁKY, chairman of the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), has caused an uproar by mentioning the prospect of autonomy for southern Slovakia at a meeting with Romanian MEP László Tőkés on September 27.
Rezeš link to Mečiar villa revealed
NEW REVELATIONS about how ex-prime minister Vladimír Mečiar paid for his luxurious villa, ‘Elektra’, believed to be worth more than Sk48 million (€1.59 million) suggest that he was helped by people who became suddenly wealthy during his term in office. In particular, an investigation of the villa’s funding by Tom Nicholson (who also reports for The Slovak Spectator) in the Sme daily, published on September 29, has pointed to Július Rezeš. He is the son of the late Alexander Rezeš, who became enormously rich through the privatisation of Eastern Slovak Ironworks (VSŽ) in Košice when Mečiar, leader of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), was prime minister in the 1990s.
Top policeman becomes a person of interest
POLICE Vice-President Michal Kopčík has been named as a person of interest in three recent criminal cases.The most recent case involves Ernest Šimonič, a witness in the country’s biggest organised crime case, who allegedly saw Kopčík illegally sell a machine gun, the Sme daily reported on September 17.
U.S. visa waiver nears
THIS YEAR has witnessed considerable progress in cooperation between the US Embassy in Bratislava and the Slovak government on moving towards a visa waiver for Slovak tourists travelling to the U.S. The U.S. government is now likely to decide by the end of October whether Slovakia has fulfilled all the criteria necessary to allow visas to be waived for its citizens. Of particular importance is the number of refused visa applications during the last U.S. fiscal year, which will be known after September 30, U.S. Embassy spokesman Keith Hughes wrote in a press release. According to Hughes, the final two agreements necessary for the cancellation of the visa obligation should be signed soon, the SITA newswire wrote.
Ministry cancels Tiso fund–raising
THE INTERIOR Ministry has halted a fund-raising effort which was intended to pay for the reconstruction of the birthplace of Jozef Tiso, Slovakia's wartime leader and an ally of Adolf Hitler. Despite having originally authorised the fund-raising, the ministry cancelled it following media scrutiny.
Fair Play calls for objective audits of party finances
THE FAIR Play Alliance, a non-governmental ethics watchdog, has warned that oversight of party financing is sorely lacking in Slovakia. As an example, it has cited balance sheets and annual reports from the Smer party and the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), both of which, Fair Play contends, have broken party financing laws by failing to report gifts.
Lexa wins case in Human Rights Court
THE EUROPEAN Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg on September 23 ruled in favour of Ivan Lexa, Slovakia's spy chief in the mid-1990s under then-Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, who had sued Slovakia for unlawful detention.
Informant exposes police ties to underworld
MEMBERS of the police department stand accused of cooperating with the underworld and committing serious crimes themselves, General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka announced at a press conference on September 9.
Protestors still fired up over Pezinok waste dump
THE RESIDENTS of Pezinok haven’t given up on protesting against the construction of a waste dump near their town’s centre.
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