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Latest stories about Slovak

31 March 2012

Slovakia: Paying More Due to Corruption in the Area of State Tenders

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

Tibor Blazko highlights the ongoing public debate on corruption in the area of state tenders in Slovakia.

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18 March 2012

Slovakia: Corruption, Parliamentary Elections, and SMER's Comeback

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

The March 10 victory in the Slovak parliamentary elections is not the first one for the SMER-Social Democracy party. Formerly a communist, now a social democrat, the party's leader Robert Fico has won for the third time in a row already. Tibor Blazko provides background on this year's vote and reviews some of the online reactions.

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10 January 2012

Slovakia: The “Work vs Money” Dilemma

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

In East Slovakia, unemployed people were asked to get involved in a public flood protection project. Only four young men agreed. The rest refused, claiming that they'd be poorer if they took this job. Tibor Blazko writes about unemployment in Slovakia and translates the netizens' comments.

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4 January 2012

Slovakia: Medical Doctors' Protest

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

One of the most important Slovak events of 2011 was the protest of over 2,000 medical doctors employed by state hospitals; 1,200 of them (from the total of 6,500) cancelled their job contracts later. Tibor Blazko explains the situation and translates the netizens' opinions on healthcare.

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14 December 2011

Slovakia: The Most Expensive Apple Computers

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA) has recently signed a contract to acquire electronics and software for its Faculty of National Economy for a total price of over 1.8 million euro. Many of the items are overpriced. Tibor Blazko reports.

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11 November 2011

Slovakia: Checking Politicians' Facts With Demagog.sk

Written by Jakub Górnicki · Eastern & Central Europe

Demagog.sk is a Slovakian web project that aims to analyze politicians' claims based on facts and ensure they are correct and used in the right context.

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5 June 2011

Slovakia: The People Vs. the Census

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

Tibor Blazko writes about problems with Slovakia's 2011 Population and Housing Census, which took place in Slovakia on May 21, 2011. Issues include people's unwillingness to fill out complex forms and the reportedly high cost of the census.

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11 February 2011

Slovakia: Deaflympics 2011 Controversy

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

Slovakia may fail to hold a successful Deaflympics this month, due to problems with funding and unfinished facilities, which were known to exist as far back as last spring - and still remain today. Tibor Blazko reports on the Slovak netizens' frustration with the situation.

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21 January 2011

Haiti: Aid From Slovakia Blocked by Customs for Ten Months

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe, Caribbean

A container with the second shipment of humanitarian aid from Slovakia has been blocked by the customs in Haiti for nearly ten months. Tibor Blazko translates some of the Slovak netizens' views on the problem.

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15 September 2010

Slovakia: No Money for Greece

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe, Western Europe

Slovakia's refusal to take part in the Greek bailout has "outraged" the European Central Bank. Tibor Blazko translates some of what the Slovak netizens think about the issue.

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Updates about Slovak

24 April 2012

Slovakia

On April 18, 200-250 [sk] people attended a protest against illegal construction near Bratislava Castle, organized by Bratislava Openly [sk]. The west side of a new white house (a continuation of a historical building, photo here) had to consist of just the ground floor and a minimal attic, but the builder - architect Dušan Fischer - discovered a 2.5-meter [sk] mistake in the measurements of height above sea level and decided to use it to increase the building's height illegally (photo). Such violations are widespread in Slovakia; to set a precedent and prevent this from happening again, the protesters demanded demolishing at least part of the building.

• Tibor Blazko

21 April 2012

Slovakia

Radovan Bránik highlights an instance of child abuse in his photo report, Slavery in the streets of Bratislava, 21st century [sk]. His pictures show a girl from Romania who, instead of being at school, is playing accordion for money in Bratislava's Old Town. A few older kids stand nearby, permanently checking for police presence and quickly taking the money earned by the girl. An adult woman, probably the kids' mother, is enjoying coffee and sandwiches, while the girl often has to run away from the police. A solution offered by the blog's readers: do not give them money.

• Tibor Blazko

29 February 2012

Slovakia

In the situation when the U.S. action film star Chuck Norris leads in the public vote for the name of the bridge across the Morava River into Austria [en], blogger Ondrej Horváth recommends [sk] asking Mr. Norris before making the final decision, because otherwise it is possible that the bridge will not last there for a long time.

• Tibor Blazko

14 February 2012

Hungary

Blogger Ulrika Lejnarová, highlighting air pollution data from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute [sk], wonders [sk] why Slovakia, while often paying attention to the critical conditions in Hungary [en], is doing little to inform its own citizens of the domestic situation adequately, in order to avoid health complications.

• Tibor Blazko

8 February 2012

Czech Republic

An anti-ACTA rally took place in Bratislava on Feb. 4. On the protest's Facebook page [sk], nearly 7,500 people wrote they would attend, and over 3,800 wrote they'd “maybe” attend. The weather was cold and windy; the recent news from Poland, which has postponed the ratification of ACTA, was good; and it's unlikely that anything will be approved before the Slovak early elections in March. As a result, only 500 people or so showed up for the rally [sk; photos; video]. This week, a number of Slovak and Czech politicians announced they were in favor of postponing the ratification of the controversial treaty.

• Tibor Blazko

29 January 2012

Slovakia

The Economist's Eastern Approaches blog writes about Slovakia's corruption scandal caused by the leaked info from the 2005-06 wiretapping operation codenamed “Gorilla” (more - here). On Friday, Jan. 27, an anti-corruption rally - “Protest Gorila” [sk; Facebook page]- took place in the capital Bratislava (photos are here, videos - here). The media reported “hundreds” to 4,000 of protesters at the rally, while blogger Ján Gašo counted [sk] at least 2,375 people on a photo taken at the time when people were still arriving at the rally.

• Tibor Blazko

28 January 2012

Slovakia

Aktualne.sk reports [sk] that, following the initial financial inspection by the Ministry of Culture, the Slovak National Gallery is now required to pay 140 euro back, from the 25,000 euro that it reportedly spent on its new website (more on this here and here). Meanwhile, according to the World Association of Slovaks Living Abroad, the organization's new web page (still under construction) will cost over 32,000 euro and will be paid for by the state-funded Office for Slovaks Living Abroad, whose head, according to reports [sk], has already hired his friend's company for over 55,000 euro.

• Tibor Blazko

27 January 2012

Slovakia

In response to the 25,000-euro “minimalist” website design of the Slovak National Gallery, zajtra.sk started its own competition [sk] for the website's re-design, offering 100 euro to the winner. Authors are mostly students, and they often declare how many hours - and, sometimes, minutes - they spent on their re-design.

• Tibor Blazko

19 January 2012

Slovakia

The Slovak public TV channel STV cancelled [sk] a scheduled live talk show on the alleged widespread corruption of 2005-2006 [en], which involved many of the country's past and present politicians. Head of RTVS (Radio and TV Slovakia) said [sk] that broadcasting such a program, produced by an external producer before the early elections in spring, “may pose a risk.” According to the blog [sk] of Miroslava Roháčová, only seven people took part in the protest in front of the TV station's building. After the most recent negotiations [sk], the show has been re-scheduled for this week.