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(updated 03 September 2010)

   Czech paper exposes corruption plot involving deputy defence minister
   Slovak cabinet meets to discuss mass murder tragedy
   Hungarian government denies reports of possible agreement with IMF
   Gazprom tries for merger with Ukraine's Naftogaz
   Slovenija's main opposition party supports pension reform
   Kaliningrad Governor ousted after local unrest

   Opposition parties concerned about government influence on Hungarian media
   Belarus president falls out with Moscow
   World Bank agrees co-operation in Bulgaria

   Northern Czech regions badly hit by floods
   Smolensk memorial plaque unveiled in Warsaw
   Armenian opposition criticises 49-year lease of military base to Russia

   Montenegro submits action plans to fight corruption and organised crime
   Russia bans wine imports from Moldova
   România asks EU for help dealing with floods

 

Millions of outsiders eligible for EU passports
Immigration to the UK from central Europe fell in 2009
New EU regulation allows accents for some web domain names
Anti-federalist MEPs form new EP group
European Parliament 2009 election results
Schengen area enlargement
How the European Union has grown

 

Albania
Armenia
Belarus
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Georgia (Gruziya)
Hungary
Kaliningrad

Kosovo

 

Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia (FYR)
Moldova
Montenegro

Poland
România
Russia
Serbia

Slovakia
Slovenija
Ukraine

 

News from central and eastern Europe

Reports are grouped by country, alphabetically
  For quick links use the News Index at the top of the page or the indexed Map

Poland   (Polska)

Smolensk memorial plaque unveiled

On 12 August a marble plaque commemorating the victims of the presidential plane crash at Smolensk has been placed on the wall of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. It was unveiled, in the company of church and military representatives, by Jacek Michalowski, the Head of the Presidential Chancellery, and Deputy Mayor of Warsaw Jacek Wojciechowicz.

The short unveiling ceremony was announced only two hours before the event and immediately followed agreement by the Warsaw Heritage Conservation Department to the form of the plaque suggested by Presidential Chancellery. The plaque noted that 96 people had been killed, among them President Lech Kaczyński with his wife and former President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski.

There will be another plaque unveiled in the Presidential Palace Chapel, in memory of the late presidential couple as well as victims who had been employees of the Presidential Chancellery and the National Security Bureau.

Andrzej Wajda receives Russian friendship award

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on 12 August honoured Andrzej Wajda, the Oscar-winning Polish film maker, with the Order of Friendship for his cinematic contributions to Russian-Polish relations.

Wajda's film Katyn depicts a 1940 Soviet massacre of thousands of Polish military officers and intellectuals at Katyn, Russia. Until the 70th anniversary of the massacre in April this year the Russian authorities had banned the 2007 film.

South-western town of Bogatynia under water

Floods paralyse town of Bogatynia Heavy rains on 6 and 7 August left most of the south-western Polish town of Bogatynia in Lower Silesia flooded. The Miedzianka River had broken its banks. The town close to the Czech and German border, with population of 18,000, was completely cut off after the flood water covered the main bridge leading into the town and swept away several other bridges.

Some areas of the town have been left with no electricity, water or telephone communications. Firefighters used boats to evacuate some 600 inhabitants trapped in their homes. One person drowned.

 

Presidential elections

Bronisław Komorowski won the second round of Poland’s presidential elections held on 4 July. In the first round on 20 June votes went to three main candidates:

Bronisław Komorowski, Platforma Obywatelska (Civic Platform) 41.54%
Jarosław Kaczyński, Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (Law and Justice) 36.46%
Grzegorz Napieralski, Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (Democratic Left Alliance) 13.68%

Seven more candidates gained less than 3% of the votes cast.

President Bronisław Komorowski

Bronisław Komorowski was born in 1952. He graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw in 1977.

As a young man involved in the anti-communist opposition, Komorowski was arrested by the country’s communist authorities in 1971. He worked with the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR) and the Human and Civil Rights Protection Movement, and edited, printed and distributed opposition publications.

In 1991, Komorowski was elected to the Sejm (lower house of parliament) and was in his sixth term as an MP. Between 1997 and 2000, Komorowski chaired the Defence Committee of the Sejm and in 2000-2001 he was Defence Minister.

In 2004-2006 he became deputy chairman of Platforma Obywatelska (the Civic Platform party) and from 2007 was Speaker of the lower house of parliament.

Well known as an enthusiast for Europe, Komorowski has advocated strong European integration. As far as foreign affairs are concerned, he has wanted Poland to be an equal partner in relations with its foreign partners and for his country to be strongly involved in the work of international organisations. After several Polish soldiers were recently killed by Afghan fighters, Komorowski has said the mission of the Polish military contingent in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan should end as soon as possible.

Supporting privatisation and advocating rapid economic reforms to modernise the country his slogan in the presidential election campaign was Zgoda buduje (United we stand).

Bronisław Komorowski is married with five children, all now young adults. His hobbies include hunting, but following protests from animal welfare campaigners, he declared during the election campaign that he would now give up hunting and focus on photographing animals instead.


Poland: background facts and figures

Population   38.6 million, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. The official language is Polish. More than a third of the population lives in rural areas.

Geography   Poland covers 312,700 square km (120,700 square miles). It borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad enclave to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south and Germany to the west (Central European map). Poland is divided into 16 provinces.

Cities  Warsaw the capital has a population of 1.8 million. Other major cities are Łódź, Kraków, Poznan, Gdańsk, Wroclaw and Katowice.

Political system   Parliamentary democracy, with a 460-seat lower house of parliament (Sejm) and a 100-seat senate elected to four-year terms. The president, elected by popular vote, designates the prime minister and can veto bills.

Economy  Poland launched market reforms in 1990 to transform a centrally planned economy. The government slashed subsidies, freed prices and imposed tighter monetary curbs and wage controls to combat hyper-inflation.  Rapid economic growth of up to 7% per annum followed in the mid-1990s, but has slowed since the 1998 economic crisis in Russia.

The biggest challenge for the government has been to ease unemployment, originally at 18%, while making spending cuts to prepare the budget for EU entry and later adopt the euro. There has also been concern at the large numbers of Poles who have migrated to find work elsewhere in the EU.

Polish gross domestic product per capita is 42% of the EU average.

Defence  Poland has halved its military personnel to 200,000 since 1989. It has been a staunch ally of NATO, which it joined in 1999. It recently bought 48 F-16 jet fighters from the United States, and after its support for the war to oust Saddam Hussein, the US called on Poland to lead one of the stabilisation zones in post-war Iraq.

History   Poland was a regional power from the 14th to the 17th century. It was then carved up between Austria, Prussia and Russia at the end of the 18th century.

It regained its independence after World War I, but was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 at the start of World War Two. Six million Poles died during the war. As Soviet forces drove the Germans out of Poland in 1944-1945, Stalin installed the communist party in power. Part of former Poland is still in the territory of Belarus. The party crushed workers' revolts in 1956, 1970 and 1976. General Wojciech Jaruzelski imposed 18 months of martial law from December 1981 to suppress the Solidarity free trade union. Solidarity later helped to oust the communist regime in 1989 and Poland launched democratic reforms, electing the union's leader Lech Wałęsa as President in 1990.

In 1995, Wałęsa lost a presidential election to ex-communist Aleksander Kwasniewski, who was re-elected in 2000.

The social democratic party won general elections in 2001 and its leader, prime minister Leszek Miller, completed EU accession talks.  A new right-wing coalition government took power in 2004, eventually allowing the extraordinary situation where President and Prime Minister were twin brothers.  Elections in October 2007 dismissed Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, but his brother Lech remained as President. Donald Tusk became prime minister as leader of the Civic Platform party, allied to the agrarian party.


Polskie Radio Londyn is available on DAB digital radio, in the London area.


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România

EU asked for help dealing with floods

In mid August it was reported that the government would ask the European Union for help dealing with floods that have kept parts of the country underwater for weeks and caused an estimated €870 million in damage.

Roads and infrastructure have been destroyed in severe floods.

According to official assessments, heavy rains and overflowing rivers have killed 26 people and destroyed infrastructure and homes in 40 of the country's 42 departments.

Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said that Romania would be seeking about €24.5 million from the Solidarity Fund of the European Union. It should qualify because the damage from the floods has exceeded 0.6% of the country's gross domestic product.

The Solidarity Fund, established in 2002 with an annual budget of €1 billion, is designed to allow the EU to respond rapidly in helping any member state deal with a major natural disaster.

70 million year-old "stocky" dinosaur

Fossilised remains of a new dinosaur has been found in Romania, reported in August in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It has been given the scientific name Balaur bondoc, which means "stocky dragon". It appears to be a stockier version of the Velociraptor, and had two large claws on its feet which the scientists believe would have been used to rip up its prey. The Velociraptor had just one such claw.

Balaur bondoc flourished some 70 million years ago; higher sea levels then would have made that part of Romania an island archipelago. "Balaur might be one of the largest predators in this ecosystem," said Zoltan Csiki from the University of Bucharest, co-author of the article. He explained that while the 1.8-2.1 metre length creature was a new discovery, it was closely related to creatures like the Velociraptor and feathered dinosaurs uncovered in China.

The Balaur bondoc fossil is a partial skeleton that includes leg, hip, backbone, arms, hand, rib, and tail bones. It had a big toe with a large extendable claw as well as a large claw on the second toe. Its pelvis had large attachment areas for muscle, indicating strength rather than speed

Progress reports on EU measures

On 23 July 2008 the European Commission issued its latest reports on progress by Romania and Bulgaria in meeting the measures required by the Commission when both countries joined the EU.

According to the EC Report, România's commitment to reforms in the key institutions was not being steadily implemented, and it needed to demonstrate its willingness to punish high-level corruption.

The report on România condemned parliament for delaying corruption inquiries involving the former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and other top officials. The report also noted that in 90% of corruption cases, lenient judges had delivered only the minimum penalty.

Download key findings:  Word  or PDF

Download the EC monitoring report


Romanian government website


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Serbia    (Република Србија)

Technical talks with IMF start

On 19 August an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation headed by Albert Jaeger started talks with representatives of the Serbian government. It was part of the fifth review under the stand-by arrangement Serbia has with the IMF. There is a current loan arrangement between the IMF and Serbia valued at €2.9 billion.

The IMF Belgrade office confirmed that representatives of the IMF and Serbian government will carry out talks at a technical expert level, while official talks were scheduled to open with a plenary session at the National Bank of Serbia on 23 August. The IMF delegation has planned to stay in Serbia until 31 August.

Bakery companies increase price of bread

It was reported on 19 August that the Belgrade Baking Industry Klas had increased prices of its products by 15%. Privately-owned bakeries were also said to be announcing price rises.

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljević said a week earlier that the state would prevent bread prices from going up by borrowing 100,000 tons of wheat from the country's commodity reserves for the bakeries. But some flour manufacturers had already raised the price of flour by 20% at the end of July. New prices of bread were mentioned then, but Milosavljevic claimed at the time that there was no reason for price hikes.

Director of the Belgrade Baking Industry Nuri Šahid said: “As far as we’re concerned, we should have raised the prices two months ago, but we didn’t. The main reason is that the suppliers have increased the flour prices by about 80%. The increase in the bread price that we have decided on is lower. With these bread prices we don’t even have a profit, we’re only covering the costs.”

The Director of Commodity Reserves, Goran Tasić, said he did not understand why the price rise was necessary, considering that there was enough wheat in the reserves. Yet her believed that negotiations with the Bakers Association of Serbia could reach an agreement that would satisfy both parties.

There are about 7,000 bakeries in Serbia which employ some 70,000 workers.

Zemun gangster first to be extradited from Croatia

Serbian Justice Minister Snežana Malović said on 17 August that she expected that Sretko Kalinić, a convicted member of the Zemun criminal gang, would soon be extradited from Croatia to Serbia. "I expect that Kalinić will be in Belgrade very soon, in the next few days, and depending on a security assessment he will be sent to the Belgrade District Prison or another prison in Serbia."

She voiced satisfaction at a speedy and efficient response by Croatian Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjakovic, who had that day signed a decision on Kalinić's extradition. She confirmed that Croatia and Serbia had signed a contract on the mutual extradition of fugitives. This was the first time it had been put into practice. "This is a contribution to regional cooperation in the fight against organized crime and corruption and an affirmation of Serbia's and Croatia's position that they will not be safe houses for criminals," she said.

Sretko Kalinić, a member of the Zemun criminal gang, has been at large since 2003, after the assassination of late Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Ðinđić. Serbian courts had sentenced Kalinić in absentia to 35 years in prison for the prime minister's murder. In November 2009, his sentence was commuted to 30 years. As a member of the Zemun gang, he has also been sentenced to 40 years for several murders, kidnappings and a terrorist attack.

Sretko Kalinić declined to appeal against Croatia's decision to extradite him to Serbia. He thus became the first Croatian citizen to be extradited to another state.

the former
Union of Serbia and Montenegro

Area  38,900 sq miles
Population: Around 10.6 million

Ethnic groups: Serb 62.6%, Albanian 16.5%, Montenegrin 5.0%, Hungarian 3.3%, others 12.6%.
Languages: Serbian 95%, Albanian 5.0%.
Religions: Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, others 11%.

Territory: The Union covered the same territories of Montenegro and Serbia as Jugoslavija, and included the UN-administered province of Kosovo.
Administrative centre: Belgrade.

Institutions: It has a 126-strong parliament, which chooses a president. The President nominates a five-member council of ministers: defence, foreign affairs, international economic relations, economy and human and minority rights. The Union will have its own court along with an army reporting to a joint supreme defence council. A special provision allows for rotation of the union government's five ministers with their deputies from different member states to ensure equitable representation.

Elections: Parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro elected deputies to the union parliament after the adoption of the union charter. Serbia had 91 seats and Montenegro 35. After the first two years direct parliamentary elections were held.

Economy: The two member states operate a common market and seek to harmonise their economic systems with that of the EU to overcome differences, especially in customs and trade policy. Initial economic reforms have already been implemented.
Currency: Serbia sticks to the dinar. Montenegro uses euros. The Serbian central bank became the Union central bank.


Montenegro:  In June 2006 Serbia acknowledged the independence of Montenegro, following a referendum the previous month, in which 55.5% of Montenegrins had voted in favour of independence.

News from Montenegro is listed separately


Serbia's EU Integration Office

News about Kosovo

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Slovenia    (Slovenija)

Main opposition party to support pension reform

Janez Janša, the leader of the biggest opposition party, said on 23 August that his Democrats (SDS) would support a planned pension reform if the government accepted its proposed conditions. He agreed that the country’s pension system was in need of change. He said that a national consensus on the reform was necessary in order to ensure its sustainability.

His remarks came during a presentation as former SDS Health Minister Zofija Mazej Kukovič announced her candidacy to be mayor of Ljubljana.

Janša claimed that the present government had started tackling the issue from the wrong direction and also picked the wrong time. He said that the SDS had several proposals for improvements of the scheme.  If the government accepted these proposals, the SDS would support the bill regardless of apparent public opinion on the reform.

One of the main SDS proposals was that a special pension account be set up to make the management of pension money more transparent. "Everyone who is giving money to the pension purse must have an insight into how much he's paying and how much he's got at all times." Janša said that the government had promised such an account when the reform was being drafted, but failed to include it in the final version.

The latest proposals for pension reform revealed by Prime Minister Borut Pahor on 9 August sets 65 years of age and at least 15 years of service as conditions for a full age-based pension. The conditions for early retirement with a full pension are 43 years of service for men and 40 years of service for women. Not unexpectedly, these proposals did not gain the approval of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which is one of the partners in the government coalition. The daily newspaper Dnevnik on 24 August published the results of an opinion poll showing that only one in four people support the Prime Minister’s proposals.

Major food company taken over by foreign company

By the end of 2010, one of Slovenija’s main food companies will no longer be owned by Slovenians. Droga Kolinska – regarded as one of the country’s most prestigious companies, and just a few months ago winner of an award by the International Taste and Quality Institute – is to be taken over by the Croatian firm Atlantic Grupa. Previous owner Istrabenz had been in deep financial trouble for some time, finally announcing its insolvency at the end of April 2009. Clearing the company’s debt was a matter of selling off its assets and Droga Kolinska was one of the most valuable. The sale, worth about €382m, will nearly halve Istrabenz’s debt.

Slobodan Vučićević, president of the board at Droga Kolinska, was anxious to reassure people that foreign ownership was not a threat. “We believe that with the new owner, the renowned brands of Droga Kolinska will be in good hands, with the opportunity to develop further and continue to expand internationally,” he said.

Atlantic Grupa has considerable experience in distribution of both domestic and international brands – including big names such as Wrigley and Johnson & Johnson. The group may therefore be able to enable greater market penetration for Droga Kolinska’s products. The takeover could lead to job creation in Slovenija rather than job losses. Atlantic Grupa itself issued a cautiously optimistic view: “Further job opportunities are at the moment hard to predict, as they depend on more than one factor. But there are plans for further investments in production, and room for further sales growth.”

National Bank scrapes through viability test

Slovenia’s biggest bank has passed a test of its viability by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors. But only just. The bank’s own managers freely admitted that fresh capital was urgently needed.

Nova Ljubljanska Banka

In July, the state-owned Nova Ljubljanska Bank (NLB) took the same test as 90 other banks across the European Union. Conducted by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the aim was simple: to identify any banking organisation deemed unable to survive future economic shocks. Banks had to show that in the event of another financial crisis they would retain at least a 6% Tier 1 capital ratio – the strictest measure of capital and a bank’s main buffer against losses. The figure would represent a sufficient level of capital to survive new crises.

On 6 August it was reported that the NLB did survive the CEBS test, but only just passed the threshold with a Tier 1 ratio of 6.3%. Even so, Finance Minister Franc Križanic declared himself satisfied with the outcome, describing the result as “reassuring”. NLB’s managers nevertheless said the results “indicate the need to strengthen NLB capital”.


Links:  
Information about Slovenija
Index to Slovenian government sites  (right hand column for versions in English)

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Slovakia    (Slovenská republika)

Cabinet meets to discuss mass murder tragedy

Prime Minister Iveta Radičová convened an extraordinary session of her cabinet on the afternoon of 31 August to announce a day of national mourning on the next day 1 September for victims of the 30 August shooting tragedy in an area of Bratislava that had left eight dead.

The random murders in Devínska Nová Ves has been one of the worst such incidents in the country's history. The cabinet reviewed the initial results of the ongoing investigation, and considered the question of compensation for people affected by the tragedy.

A book of condolences for casualties of the Devínska Nová Ves massacre was to be displayed in the hall of the Government Office, which also cancelled its open-house event planned for 1 September.

The shootings resulted in eight fatalities including the gunman who killed himself when surrounded by police. The man had shot six members of a Roma family living in his neighbourhood. The seventh victim, a 52-year old woman, was shot on her balcony when the escaping gunman started shooting randomly at windows and anybody who moved. 14 people were injured, including a three-year old child.

The shooting started at 10 am. The local public radio warning system warned people not to go outside or look out of their windows, as the perpetrator seemed to be shooting at random.

Little has yet emerged about the killer or his motives. Police closed off the area and launched an investigation. According to Police Corps President Jaroslav Spissiak the man, maybe in his 50s, had been carrying three weapons including an automatic assault rifle. He entered a flat and shot dead 6 people, all members of the same Roma family.

Spissiak reported: “We found 5 people laying dead inside the flat and one in the corridor. Neighbours had alerted the police, and when our people arrived on the spot and tried to corner him the perpetrator ran onto the street and started shooting at random. When finally cornered by police, the man killed himself.”

A 52-year old woman was found dead by her husband on their balcony. The Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic said that the woman had gone on to her balcony to see what was going on when she was hit by a bullet shot by the gunman.

Police chief Jaroslav Spišiak confirmed that nine injured people were in hospital, with one of them in critical condition. President Ivan Gašparovič expressed his condolences to the bereaved. He hoped that the death toll, currently standing at seven, would not rise any further.

Ryanair has 14 routes from Bratislava airport during the winter season

It was reported on 31 August that Ryanair would operate 14 routes from Bratislava's Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport (BTS) during the upcoming winter season. The winter timetable will be in place from November 2010 to March 2011. Flights to Alicante and Stockholm will be maintained and the number of flights to Brussels and Dublin will be increased.

“Eleven weekly flights to London (Stansted) and a daily link with Milan (Bergamo airport) are on offer, too,” Ryanair stated. Ryanair flies to 21 destinations from BTS during the summer season.

Wall extended to separate Roma

A wall now separates the mainly Roma inhabitants of a settlement next to the village of Ostrovany, near Šarišské Michal'any in eastern Slovakia. Its building has already evoked intense debate but some are now suggesting that it could serve as a model for other parts of Slovakia, where similar walls may be erected to serve the same purpose: to separate the Roma from the non-Roma population.

Michalovce in eastern Slovakia became segregated after an extra 25 metres was added to an existing half-kilometre-long wall. Local people in the suburb of Vychod collected €3,000 to finance construction of the wall extension, which prevents residents of the neighbouring Angy Mlyn settlement, where approximately 1,800 Roma live, from making a short-cut through their properties when they want to walk to the centre of the town.

Municipal officials said the wall would be good for sporting activities and would also serve as a barrier against noise. The local authority has even suggested that it will protect Roma residents from traffic. But one of the residents of the Roma settlement said “It seems to me like the Berlin Wall for us,” adding that the difference is that he does not expect this wall to be taken down.

Prime Minister Iveta Radičová said that the wall would not solve anything. Slovakia’s ombudsman Pavel Kandráč has undertaken to review the situation. He will also look into complaints by inhabitants of the Roma settlement who now claim that due to its construction their access to public facilities has been restricted based on their ethnic origin.

Michalovce Municipal Authority spokeswoman Iveta Palečková said that, in fact, the land on which the wall was built was rented to local home owners for the purpose of landscaping and aesthetic fencing. But what was constructed has been a 3 metre-high concrete barrier.

Wave of floods claims two lives and causes huge damage

Another wave of floods hit some regions of central Slovakia on 15 August. A so-called “thousand-year flood” filled the streams of the Upper Nitra region and inundated parts of Handlová and Prievidza and their surrounding villages, reaching a depth of 3 metres in some places.

Prime Minister Iveta Radičová returned from holiday in Croatia to visit the flooded areas.

The area hardest hit by the floods was the Handlová valley, through which the Handlovka stream flows. In some villages of the valley almost all the houses were under water and everything close to the river was damaged. Apart from houses, communications, pavements, bridges, public lighting and infrastructure also suffered severe damage.

Local floods also hit the city of Martin and surrounding areas in central Slovakia on 15 August. Many garages and cellars in the area were flooded.

In the east of Slovakia torrential rains caused problems. On 16 August, a storm hit the area between towns of Levoča and Prešov. Firemen were also called to help in the villages of Giraltovce and Hanušovce nad Topl'ou where many trees were felled by the storm.

Heavy rain also affected the area around Žiar nad Hronom, near Banská Bystrica, causing most damage in three nearby villages. The deluge hit the nearby towns of Zvolen, Banská Bystrica, Vel'ký Krtíš, Brezno and Nová Baňa, where houses were flooded and fallen trees blocked roads.

Rail lines between Margecany and Krompachy in the Košice region, on Slovakia’s main east-west railway line, were blocked by landslides on the morning of 17 August.

The mid August floods have claimed two lives. The first victim was found in Handlová on 15 August, when the flood first hit. The town’s mayor reported that a man who jumped into his car in an attempt to save it from the flood died when the water hit him while in the car. A second victim was hit by a falling tree.

The series of floods which have hit Slovakia since May this year have so far caused damage estimated at €600-650 million, a sum which does not yet include the mid August damage caused in the Upper Nitra region and nearby areas.  Prime Minister Iveta Radičová returned from holiday in Croatia to visit the affected areas. Her coalition cabinet has allocated €11 million for the rescue operation.

Prime Minister admits to possible taxes increase

Prime Minister Iveta Radičová admits to possible changes in taxes and mandatory contributions to the social system. The changes would be specified in more detail at an early meeting of the government coalition. Although the Prime Minister said the increase in taxes was not yet definite it would be on the table for discussion. She said the coalition government hoped to find a solution that would not have an effect on ‘ordinary’ people. Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš says these changes should help to revitalise public finances.


Slovak General Election results

International volunteers work at castle ruins

Three castle ruins in eastern Slovakia were helped in August by foreign volunteers in renovation works. More than 20 young people from Europe (Netherlands, Finland, Portugal, and Italy) as well as from Korea and Japan have been involved in repair work on the castle ruins in Šariš, Brekov and Kamenica. The international project was led by INEX Slovakia, a civic non-profit association.

Hrad Šariš

Volunteers have been helping with archaeological research at Kamenica and also with the reconstruction work near the remains of the ruin. At Šariš, they have been attempting to preserve the 300 years old castle’s ruins, by logging the nearby self-seeding woods and by doing bricklaying and masonry work at the castle itself. At the ruins of Brekov the volunteers have also been undertaking masonry work.

Coalition junior partners fail in general election

A parliamentary general election took place in Slovakia on 12 June. The elections were contested by eighteen parties, but only six passed the 5% threshold for seats in the National Council (parliament). The results brought major changes, with two the previous government’s coalition partners losing substantial proportions of their vote. The opposition Hungarian party also lost substantially, with most of its previous votes going to a new inter-ethnic party Most-Híd (both words mean “bridge” - most in Slovak, híd in Hungarian). Outgoing Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party increased its share of seats from 50 to 62, while at the same time effectively losing his coalition partners.


National Council election results 12 June 2010

Parties

Political position

Votes cast

%

Seats

± seats
Smer (Direction) Social democrat 880,111 34.8 62 +12
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Conservative 390,042 15.4 28 -3
Freedom and Solidarity Liberal 307,287 12.1 22 new
Christian Democratic Movement Christian democrat 215,755 8.5 15 +1
Most–Híd Inter-ethnic cooperation 205,538 8.1 14 new
Slovak National Party  Nationalist radical 128,490 5.1 9 -11
Party of the Hungarian Coalition Hungarian minority 109,638 4.3 0 -20
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) Nationalist conservative 109,480 4.3 0 -15


President Ivan Gašparovič first asked Robert Fico to attempt to form a government, saying "I believe that the party that won such support from the people deserves a chance." Fico was not however able to persuade any of the centre-right parties to join him. Subsequently the runner-up Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Party had coalition talks with the Christian Democratic Movement, and with new parties Freedom & Solidarity and Most–Híd. Four days after the election it was announced that the four opposition parties which had won seats in the parliament had agreed to form a government under the leadership of Iveta Radičová.

Iveta Radičová – first female Prime Minister

Iveta Radičová, first female prime minister of Slovakia

Iveta Radičová took up office as Slovakia's first female Prime Minister on 8 July after President Ivan Gašparovič had appointed her to head a new centre-right coalition government after the first session of Parliament. Radičová had stood against him in the last presidential election.

Iveta Radičová, a 53-year-old sociologist, vowed to cut spending, fight corruption, reform the judiciary, implement tax reforms, and stabilise public finances.

Heading a coalition that also includes a party which represents Slovakia's ethnic-Hungarian minority, Radičová also plans to improve relations with neighbouring Hungary.

Outgoing Prime Minister Robert Fico's populist left-wing Smer (Direction) emerged as the largest party in the 12 June general elections, but was unable to form a coalition with a majority in the 150-member Parliament.

Radičová formed the government with the support of her conservative SDKU party, the liberal Freedom and Solidary (SaS), the Christian Democrats (KDH) and the Most-Híd party, which together have 79 seats in the Parliament.


Slovakia and migration

For decades, the trend in Slovakia has been exodus. Since the late 19th century Slovakia has experienced several waves of mass emigration. But now with its relative stability and EU and NATO membership, Slovakia has become an attractive destination, if not for people from France or Germany, than certainly for Ukrainians and Russians. Kuzmina is a symbol of how times are changing. True, the recent news of an alleged Serbian mafia boss receiving Slovak citizenship shows that not all newcomers are to be welcomed. But in the future, Slovakia may become the home of more and more doctors, engineers, skilled workers, and athletes. In 2008 the Interior Ministry received 909 requests for asylum. It granted asylum to just 22 people. In the first 11 months of 2009 the figure was only 14. How many asylum-seekers received citizenship in 2009? None. Citizenship is not easily given to immigrants. Applicants are now required to have permanent residence for a period of eight years. That compares to five years in the United States.


Live news feed from Slovakia


Slovakia: facts and figures

Population: 5.38 million (51.4 percent women), 84% Roman Catholic, 7% Protestants and 4.1% Greek Orthodox. The official language is Slovak. Ten percent of the population are ethnic Hungarians. Other minorities include Roma (or gypsies), about two percent by official records.

Geography: Landlocked Slovakia covers 49,035 square km in central Europe. It borders Austria and Hungary in the south, Ukraine to the east, Poland to the north and the Czech Republic to the west.

Cities: Bratislava (population 500,000) is the largest city and the capital. Other cities include Košice, Žilina, Banská Bystrica and Nitra.

Political system: Parliamentary democracy, with a single, 150-seat house elected to four-year terms. The mostly-ceremonial president serves a five-year term.

Economy: GDP growth is expected to be one of the highest in central Europe at 3.5 percent this year, inflation is benign and industry is growing steadily. Other problems, like wide current account and fiscal gaps, are slowly improving.

History

What is now Slovakia was for hundreds of years a part of the Hungarian state, which was founded and converted to Christianity by King István I, later Saint Stephen, in 1001. The modern history of the country dates back to 1918, when the first common state with the Czechs, Czechoslovakia, was formed.

Slovakia was split off to become a separate state for the first time in 1939, when Hitler captured the Czech, Moravian and Silesian regions, and a Nazi puppet regime was formed.

Czechoslovakia reunited as a democratic state after World War Two but was taken over by communist rule in 1948. It remained a Soviet satellite until 1989, when the Moscow-supported regime fell in a bloodless revolution. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two, leading to the present independent, democratic Slovakia.


For a comprehensive and excellent up-to-date history, free of ideological or political bias, see
Kirschbaum, Stanislav J   Slovakia - the struggle for survival

Palgrave Macmillan; revised 2nd edition 2006.
A Canadian of Slovak origin, Kirschbaum is Professor of International Studies at York University, Glendon College, Canada. He is also the author of a Historical Dictionary of Slovakia.

The Illustrated Encyclopædia of Monuments in Slovakia introduces the artistic and architectural sights of the country in the context of their respective regions. The authors work with regions divided geographically into South-West, North-West, the Cradle of the Country, South of Central Slovakia, Central Slovakia, Northern Slovakia, East of the Tatras and Eastern Slovakia. The encyclopædia can be ordered on-line.

The path to EU entry
27 June 1995 - Slovakia applies for EU membership.
15 February 2000 - Slovakia starts EU accession negotiations.
December 2002 - EU Copenhagen summit gives the final green light to enlargement from May 2004.
9 April 2003 - European Parliament officially approves the accession of 10 countries including Slovakia
.
1 May 2004 - Slovakia joins the European Union.


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Ukraine     (Україна)

Gazprom tries for merger with Naftogaz

The Russian energy monopoly Gazprom is bidding to take over the Ukrainian national firm Naftogaz. Gazprom announced on 22 August that negotiations to form a joint venture between Ukrainian and Russian natural gas companies had been on the agenda during meetings in Moscow. The Russian gas firm Gazprom has lobbied for a merger with Naftogaz since the companies brokered a revised natural gas agreement in April. Prices for gas passing into and through Ukraine have over recent years been a major issue, resulting in the winter of 2009 in threats to gas supplies throughout central Europe. Opposition MPs in parliament oppose any closer relationship with Gazprom, fearing Kremlin domination.

In April the Ukrainian government secured gas at a discount in exchange for an extended lease for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive officer at Gazprom, welcomed Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Boiko to the Moscow headquarters of the Russian gas monopoly to discuss a strategic partnership. It was during this meeting that Miller discussed the April contract between the two companies and how to improve bilateral relations. He said that a merger would help Kiev modernise its transporting of gas.

Co-operation expected on EU Danube region strategy

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has announced that the government expects to co-operate with Austria and Hungary on the preparation of an EU strategy for the Danube region.

Foreign Affairs Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko met with Michael Spindelegger, Austria's Minister for European & International Affairs, during a visit to Austria on 21 August to discuss preparation of the European Union's strategy for the Danube region and its implementation as part of joint projects.

Co-operation on these issues would jointly involve Ukraine, Hungary and Austria.

Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, had visited Ukraine earlier in July to discuss the role of Ukraine in the drafting of the European Union's strategy for development of the Danube region. The European Commission is due to present this strategy at the end of 2010, and Ukraine may propose its own draft of the strategy.

Kyiv metro wants to raise subway fares

The Kyiv Metropolitan company is calling for a rise in the fare for a single trip in Kyiv subway from 1.70 to 2 hryvnia, acting head of the municipal enterprise Volodymyr Fedorenko has said on 20 August, speaking at a conference hosted by the Аргументы и Факты newspaper.

"The metro is currently incurring losses," Fedorenko said. "We are not replacing worn equipment: we are repairing, patching what should already be replaced. We see that the fares in shuttle buses are higher than those in the subway. But shuttle buses require no tunnels, escalators and many other things that an underground railway has to maintain. We need much money to repair escalators, for instance."

The current 1.70 hryvnia (about 15p) standard single fare was, he thought, inconvenient, because a lot of change in small coins was needed. "We pay 100,000 to 100,500 hryvnia monthly to the banks just for cashing up the money. It would make sense to set the one trip fare at 2 hryvnia, and not to change the price of a travel card," he said.

Chernobyl effects could last for centuries

Nearly 25 years after the worst nuclear accident in history, new scientific findings suggest that the effects of the explosion at Chernobyl have been underestimated. Experts published in August a series of studies indicating that, contrary to previous findings, populations of animals decreased in the exclusion zone surrounding the site of the former nuclear power plant, and that the effects of radioactive contamination after the outbreak had been "overwhelming".

More and more pigs with high levels of caesium are found at the scene. Doctors had earlier detected increased rates of cancer in Ukraine and Belarus, mutations and diseases of the blood, which they believed were related to Chernobyl.

Meanwhile, an American investigation published in April found an increase in birth defects, apparently due to sustained exposure to low level doses of radiation.

Rianne TeuleI, from the environmental organisation Greenpeace, said "This is a problem that will not go away in jut a few years. It will be there for centuries. … The new research confirms that the problems are larger than what the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in 2006 and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and will remain, and they will keep on existing and appearing in other studies. It is not anything that is going to go away soon."


Fallout from Chernobyl disaster

The Chernobyl disaster occurred in April 1986 after one of the blocks of the nuclear power plant exploded. It is estimated that the total radioactivity from Chernobyl was 200 times greater than the combined releases of nuclear bombs dropped by the United States in 1945 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion and fire generated a huge radioactive cloud that spread across Europe, forcing the evacuation of 350,000 people in areas near the plant.

The nuclear reactor at Chernobyl

Years later, the United Nations Organization (UNO), WHO, the IAEA and other agencies joined the governments of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to create the so-called Chernobyl Forum, to conduct a major study on the effects the disaster and publish its findings in 2006. The investigation concluded that there were only 56 direct deaths (47 responders and nine children with thyroid cancer), and about 4,000 estimated indirect deaths.

That report was criticised by other groups, who have claimed it hugely underestimated the number of deaths and potential deaths due to the accident. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, affiliated to the UN, concluded that the most likely number of disaster-related deaths was 16,000. The Russian Academy of Sciences estimated that, to date, there have been 140,000 deaths in Ukraine and Belarus, and 60,000 in Russia. The Ukrainian National Radiation Commission puts the figure at 500,000.


Population gradually falling

The State Statistics Committee reported on 19 April that in February the population of Ukraine had fallen by 16,600 people or 0.04% compared to January, and at the beginning of March totalled 45,923,200 people.

As of 1 March 2010, Ukraine's urban population was 31,505,000 people (a decrease by 0.03% or 8,100 people, compared to the beginning of February), while its rural population was 14,418,300 people (a decrease by 0.06% or 8,400 people, compared to the previous month).

Reported earlier, in January 2010 the population of Ukraine had fallen by 0.05% or 23,100 people, compared to December 2009, and made up 45,939,800 people as of 1 February.

The last nationwide census was conducted in December 2001. At that point Ukraine's population comprised 48,415,500 people, including 32,538,000 living in urban and 15,877,500 in rural areas.



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