Related articles
SpotlightSpotlight - Slovaks in the Czech Republic
Ten years after the split of Czechoslovakia, there are an estimated half a
million Slovaks here in the Czech Republic. To find out just why so many
Slovaks choose to live, study and work in the Czech Republic, I first
spoke to Marek Vozar, who is from Kosice and studies at the Prague School
of Economics.
More
Current Affairs The demise of Czechoslovakia: A political history
As the tenth anniversary of the creation of separate Czech and Slovak
republics approaches, Radio Prague will be taking a look at just how the
state of Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Today we will take a look at the
history of Czechoslovakia and the national aspirations of the Czech and
Slovak nations within it.
More
Current AffairsSlovak Prime Minister welcomes NATO's invitation for Slovakia to join
One of the most significant results of the NATO summit held last week in
Prague was NATO's invitation for seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe to join
the alliance in 2004. One of them is Slovakia, formerly part of
Czechoslovakia, together with the Czech Republic, which became a NATO member three years ago. In
an exclusive interview for Radio Prague, David Vaughan asked the Slovak
Prime Minister, Mikulas Dzurinda what impact Slovakia's membership in NATO
would have on Czech-Slovak relations?
More
Current AffairsOctober 28th - No longer a common holiday for Czechs and Slovaks
Although October 28th marks the founding of the Czechoslovak state, Slovaks
do not recognize this date. In Slovakia, January 1st marks the date in
which a national holiday celebrates the founding of the state which took
place in 1993. Some might ask why is this so? After all, the first
republic of Czechoslovakia was the first time in modern history where both
Czechs and Slovaks had an independent state to call their own. I spoke to
Andrea Kundrova from Radio Slovakia and asked her first, how significant
the national holiday of January 1st is to Slovaks.
More
Central Europe TodaySlovak general elections
Politicians in the Czech Republic as well as in the rest of post-Communist
Central Europe have welcomed the results of the general elections that
took place in Slovakia on September 20 and 21st, despite the fact that the
nationalist former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for
Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) at the start of the campaign originally looked
like it would have a chance of retaking power. Meciar gained 19.5 percent
of the vote but although he received most votes in the Slovak
parliamentary elections his chances of forming a majority coalition
government are low as he remains isolated. The governing pro-European
parties, on the other hand, view the elections as a victory since their
coalition would have a majority in parliament. Here are the final election
results: the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) received 15.09
percent and the Smer party received 13.46 percent. The Hungarian Coalition
Party (SMK) received 11.16 percent, the Christian Democrats (KDH) 8.25
percent, the Alliance of New Citizens (ANO) 8.01 percent and the
Communists (KSS) 6.32 percent. After the election results were final, the
Slovak President Rudolf Schuster said that he would appoint the person who
will give him the majority in parliament as Prime Minister. Whilst it
seems most probable that the current Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda has a
better chance of forming such a government, his four-party coalition would
have 78 seats in the 150 seat parliament, Vladimir Meciar has been given
until Friday to attempt to form a coalition himself - a chance that
political analysts believe to be just a formal gesture, finding it
virtually impossible for Mr Meciar to get the support he needs. In today's
CET, Dita Asiedu speaks with Olga Gyarfasova, sociologist and programme
director at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava, about the
election results and what they mean for Slovakia's relations with its
partners in the Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary).
Of the more than 4.1 million eligible voters, 70.07 percent took part in
the general elections. So, Dita Asiedu started off by asking Mrs
Gyarfasova whether the Slovak people were surprised by the election
results:
More
Current AffairsSlovakia's way to EU and NATO open after general elections
The victory of centre-right parties in the weekend's general election in Slovakia has boosted the country's chances of EU and NATO accession, although ex-Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for Democratic Slovakia at the start of the campaign originally looked like it would have a chance of retaking power - Meciar eventually gained 19.5 percent of the vote. But even a majority in votes will not be enough for the isolated politician to form a coalition. Prior to the elections, EU and NATO diplomats had warned that the return by nationalist-oriented Meciar would kill Slovakia's accession bids. But with the current Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union gaining 15 percent of the vote and thanks to the gains of his centre-right coalition partners, Slovakia's way to Europe appears to be open now. Alena Skodova reports.
More
Central Europe Today What is the future for regional cooperation in Central Europe?
If you don't know anything about the Visegrad Group and which countries it represents, you can be forgiven. When I asked people in the streets around the radio building here in Prague whether they had heard of Visegrad, almost all gave the same answer: a very firm "No". I asked around fifteen people, and only one, a smartly dressed young man from Slovakia, gave me the precise answer.
More
+1
