Vol. 17, No. 5 Monday, February 7, 2011 - Sunday, February 13, 2011

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NEWS

New rules for judgesA new law means thatjudges will have to applyfor their positions and re-veal their links to otherpeople in the judiciary. Allrulings will also be postedonline.

pg 2

Treaty with Hungary?Slovakia has proposed thedrafting of a bilateraltreaty with Hungary to re-solve ongoing tensionsover the two countries' cit-izenship laws.

pg 3

OPINION

The SNS soap operaAnna Beluosovová's expul-sion from the Slovak Na-tional Party is just the latestround in an apparently in-terminable personalityclash between her and partyleader Ján Slota.

pg 5

BUSINESS FOCUS

Look northThe Slovak Spectatorspeaks with the ambassad-ors of Norway, Denmarkand Finland about theircountries, economic andsocial development, andlinks with Slovakia.

pgs 6, 7 and 8

Trading tiesNorway, Denmark and Fin-land all have strong traderelationships with Slovakia.With Europe's economynow recovering, these lookset to expand.

pgs 6, 7 and 8

CULTURE

Cultural blizzardA blast from the north is ex-pected to last well into earlyspring in Slovakia – at leastaround galleries andcinemas – as many kinds ofNordic culture are show-cased in Slovakia.

pg 10

Orbánvisits

Slovakia

IF SLOVAKIA and Hungary were to definetheir mutual relationship in Facebookterms, nothing would suit better than the“it’s complicated” category. Despite that,elected officials from the two countrieshave been visiting each other often in re-cent months and on January 28 HungarianPrime Minister Viktor Orbán made the firstofficial visit to Slovakia in 12 years.

The official visit did not bring a host ofspecific results other than an initialledagreement to build a natural gas pipelinebetween Slovakia and Hungary as part of awider plan to boost energy security incentral Europe. Nevertheless, it wasstressed by both countries that the ex-change was important as it had been 1999when the last official visit to Slovakia wasmade by a Hungarian prime minister. Infact, that visit was also by Viktor Orbán,during a previous stint as prime minister.

See LINKS pg 3

Slovak citizen Anna Knežová-Schönbrunová accepts the award of Righteous Among the Nations from Israeli minis-ter and general Yossi Peled. For more details, see article on pg 3. Photo: TASR

BY MICHAELA TERENZANISpectator staff

Labour Code's newcontours revealed

A FAIRER law giving more protec-tion to those who need it the mostis one of the banners under whichthe government of Iveta Radičováunveiled the contours of itsplanned changes to the country’sLabour Code. The centre-right gov-ernment also said it intends tomake the law more flexible to bet-ter meet the needs of the economywhile reducing unnecessary bur-eaucracy.

The stakes are high forSlovakia’s trade unions. In Januarythe unions initiated a petitiondrive that could lead to a national

referendum. After Radičovápresented the government’s pro-positions for changes to the code onJanuary 31, the Confederation ofTrade Unions (KOZ) responded thatit will further discuss the theseswith Radičová and Minister of La-bour Jozef Mihál on February 10.

Slovakia’s employer associations

were reserved in their initial re-sponses and said they wanted to firsthave a thorough discussion in-volving voices from various seg-ments of society.

Radičová said that the pro-posed amendments to the LabourCode are designed to “protect thosewho need that protection themost” while the degree of protec-tion would depend on anemployee’s qualifications, salaryand the number of years of em-ployment at a company.

See TALK pg 4

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Banksdouble their

profits

BANKS operating in Slovakia reached animportant turning point during 2010. Aftera deep drop in profits in 2009 the bankingsector recovered throughout last year andits end-of-year taxed profits are expectedto reach €513.87 million, according to pre-liminary data released by the NationalBank of Slovakia (NBS).

“First, this increase is a consequence ofa low comparison base,” Marcel Laznia ofthe Slovak Banking Association (SBA) toldThe Slovak Spectator. “2009 was the worstyear for corporate entities, including banks,in recent periods. Under the influence ofnegative impacts of the economic declineon companies and people, profits of thebanking sector more than halved in 2009.”

The taxed profit of the banking sector in2009 fell 51 percent to €250.1 million, downfrom €508.6 million in 2008. In addition tothe impact of the economic crisis, banks’profits were adversely affected by Slovakia’sadoption of the euro and the resulting lossof income from foreign exchange opera-tions, industry experts said.

See PROFIT pg 11

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

Trnka departs, GP job now vacant

THE TERM of Slovakia’s general pro-secutor, Dobroslav Trnka, elapsedon February 2. However, a final de-cision on who will fill one of thecountry’s most powerful positionsis still not in sight, with the rulingcoalition and opposition continuingto quarrel over the how the next topprosecutor should be selected.Trnka has said he might return, butthe ruling coalition led by Iveta

Radičová is going to considerablelengths to ensure that he does notwin re-appointment.

Meanwhile, the largest opposi-tion party in parliament, Smer,tried to initiate a speciallysummoned session of parliamenton February 2 in order to hold a voteon the job, but the ruling coalitionblocked the convening of the ses-sion. In response, Smer leaderRobert Fico and other party mem-bers unfurled three banners, simu-lating a protest rally in parliament.

While Smer wants to have thenext prosecutor selected in a secretballot and is backing Trnka, the rul-

ing coalition parties want a publicvote. To achieve a change in the waythe general prosecutor is chosen,parliament must amend the law onprosecution as well as the parlia-mentary discussion order. Thismight mean that a general prosec-utor will not be chosen until May.

“The prosecution does not standor fall on Trnka,” Trnka himself saidon January 29, adding that he wasleaving neither in anger nor sad-ness. Nevertheless, on February 2he did let off some steam in a TV in-terview.

See VOTE pg 2

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Hungarian premier's firstofficial visit in 12 years

Earthquake felt in southern Slovakia

SOUTHERN Slovakia experi-enced a minor earthquake onthe evening of January 29.The epicentre was in Hun-gary, only 33 kilometressouth-east of Komárno, atown on the Slovak-Hun-garian border.

Residents from DunajskáStreda and Trnava said fur-niture moved and wallsshook.

According to the US web-site, earthquake.usgs.gov,

the tremor occurred at 18:41and reached a magnitude of4.2 on the Richter scale.

“I felt the whole livingroom moving,” MáriaHrkľová from Komárno toldthe SITA newswire. Peoplealso felt the quake in othertowns and villages in south-ern Slovakia including NovéZámky and Levice.

No injuries or propertydamage were reported due tothe earthquake.

Slovaks leave strife-torn Egypt

SLOVAK travel agencyKartágo Tours, which spe-cialises in holiday trips toEgypt, cancelled twoplanned excursions and willrelocate all Slovak touristsfrom Egypt by February 5,the SITA newswire reported.The move came followingdays of increasingly violentcivil unrest centred on thethe capital, Cairo.

On February 1, KartágoTours reported having 60 to70 Slovak tourists in Egypt.The Slovak Foreign Ministryreported that it countedabout 100 tourists altogetherin Egypt in early February,plus approximately 100 Slov-ak citizens living in thecountry.

“Most of them are inCairo and according to theSlovak representation inCairo some 30 citizens wereinterested in assistance toleave the country,” ĽubošSchwarzbacher, theministry’s spokesperson,told SITA, adding that theministry had no informationthat any Slovak citizen hadbeen injured in the anti-gov-ernment demonstrations.

The Slovak governmentagreed on February 2 to senda government plane to Egyptto bring Slovaks home. Theplane flew 45 passengers toSlovakia on February 3 fromCairo and Hurghada: 36 Slov-aks, seven Czechs, one Poleand one Hungarian.

MPs okay amended Language Act

PARLIAMENT overrode Pres-ident Ivan Gašparovič’s vetoand again passed an amend-ment to the State LanguageAct on February 2. Theamendment drafted by theCulture Ministry received 78votes from MPs of the rulingcoalition and will reducesanctions for violations ofthe law as well as liberalisesome other provisions thathad been adopted during theterm of the previous gov-ernment.

Parliament did not sup-port the president’s proposalto require sanctions for viola-tions of the law. One memberof parliament abstained in

the voting and 65 MPs votedagainst the amendment.

The amendment reducesthe fines to between €50 and€2,500 and states that theCulture Ministry will not berequired to issue fines for vi-olations. Fines can be leviedby the ministry only for viol-ations that involve commu-nications related to publicadministration or violationsthat pose a danger to health,life, security or property ofcitizens.

The amendment to theState Language Act takes ef-fect on March 1.

Compiled by Spectator staff

from press reports

Judiciary to becomea little less cosy

JUDICIAL clerks working inSlovakia’s courts can nolonger expect guaranteed andlargely silent promotion topositions as judges, and sit-ting judges will have to getused to much more personalinformation about them be-ing made public, after parlia-ment passed a law on judgeswhich the government ispresenting as a breakthroughreform in its drive to restorepublic trust in the judiciary.The opposition, however, iscomplaining that the changesare unconstitutional.

On February 1 parliamentoverrode a presidential veto ofthe amended law on judges,which was authored byJustice Minister LuciaŽitňanská. The amendmentaims, according to Žitňanská,to help open up the judiciaryto public scrutiny and publiccontrol. It institutes the pub-lication of all court rulings onthe internet, cancels discre-tionary bonuses for judgescurrently awarded by courtpresidents, requires more de-tailed asset declarations byjudges, and introduces publicselection procedures forjudges and court presidents.

“The amendment con-tains several positive changes

which could help to reformthe judiciary, open it up topublic control and increase itstrustworthiness,” Peter Wil-fling, a lawyer who cooperateswith the legal NGO Via Iuris,told The Slovak Spectator. Oneof the changes he highlightedis the automatic publicationof court rulings, a practicethat Slovak courts still resist.Another change, givingjudges the opportunity to pub-lish a dissenting opinion incases where they are out-numbered by other membersof the court senate, will in-crease the personal responsib-

ility of judges for rulings, ac-cording to Wilfling “as theywill no longer be able to ‘hide’behind the statement thatthey were overridden by othersenate members”.

Judge selection goes public

As of May 2011, judgeswill be appointed to fill va-cancies in all courts only via apublic selection process, asopposed to the current prac-tice of judicial clerks beingpromoted to become judgesat district courts without anyselection procedure.

Under the new rules, afive-member commission willmake each selection. Thecommission will be appointedby the president of the courtin question, and drawn from adatabase of people nominatedby parliament (one memberon each commission), the na-tional Judicial Council (onemember), the justice minister(two members) and the judi-cial council of the respectivecourt (one member).

Candidates for judicialpositions will be required toprovide a list of any judges,court employees, or employ-ees of the Justice Ministryand all its related organisa-tions to whom they are re-lated or with whom theyhave a close relationship. Asimilar declaration will alsobe required on a yearly basisfrom sitting judges.

All documentation aboutcandidates, including theirCVs and their ties to mem-bers of the selection commis-sion, will be made publiclyavailable.

Minister loses competencies

“The reform of the judi-ciary is one of the most im-portant reform steps of theSlovak government,” saidPrime Minister IvetaRadičová after parliament re-approved the amendment.

See COURTS pg 5

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

VOTE: Parliamentary rules may changeContinued from pg 1

“Tell me something that Prime Min-ister Radičová has done for this nationapart from making herself visible at acertain time when as a deputy she hero-ically left parliament because of votingon behalf of someone else,” Trnka told TVMarkíza, in mocking reference toRadičová’s decision to resign as an op-position deputy in 2009 after inadvert-ently voting on behalf of a fellow MP, incontravention of parliamentary rules.

Trnka said that he would run for thepost again because unlike his critics hehas things to offer. Using a somewhatopaque turn of phrase, as his custom,Trnka said that he had been living in thisenvironment all his life while othershave switched from being sociologists topoliticians and then to philosophers andsomewhere else – another apparent ref-erence to the prime minister, and othercoalition politicians with academicbackgrounds.

Parliament tried and failed fourtimes last year to select a general pro-secutor and the vote turned into one ofthe ruling coalition’s toughest trials.Radičová expressed strong opposition toTrnka’s eventual reselection and said shewould resign if it were to happen.

Tensions climaxed after the rulingcoalition failed in early December tohave its candidate Jozef Čentéš selectedas general prosecutor after at least sixanonymous coalition deputies used the

secret ballot to vote with the oppositionSmer party to reselect Trnka. Trnkamissed winning by just one vote, and thesix coalition MPs’ disloyalty opened thedoor to rampant speculation about plotsto unseat the prime minister.

On December 7 the ruling coalitionparties deliberately executed anotherfailed vote in order to gain time tochange the voting rules to make the se-lection process public and recorded.

Until the new prosecutor is selectedLadislav Tichý, Trnka’s deputy, will leadthe Office of the General Prosecutor.

Shortly before ending his term Trnkasacked the regional prosecutor in Prešov,Ján Tyrpák, with the Sme daily reportingthat the Prosecutors’ Council had notdiscussed the change.

The ruling coalition is meanwhileworking on changes to the authoritiesof the general prosecutor with oneproposed change being that the occu-pant can serve for only one 7-year term.This, however, has led to speculationabout whether the change would affectTrnka and prevent him from being re-appointed.

Radičová says Trnka will be free toapply for the post even if the new pro-posal drafted by the coalition is passed.“He was not elected under the new lawwe want to pass, and it won’t beretroactive,” Radičová said, as quoted bythe TASR newswire.

Seven years ago Trnka became thecountry’s fifth general prosecutor since

the fall of communism in 1989 with thehelp of votes from the Christian Demo-cratic Movement (KDH) and the Hun-garian Coalition Party (SMK). The SMKlost all its seats in parliament in theJune 2010 general election, but in 2003 itwas led by Béla Bugár, who is now thechairman of coalition party Most-Híd.

Trnka was one of three candidatesnominated for the post in 2003, and inthe moments leading up to the vote itwas uncertain whether any of themwould muster sufficient support in par-liament. But shortly before the vote,Jirko Malchárek, an MP for the now-de-funct New Citizens’ Alliance (ANO),withdrew his candidate, Vojtech Ernest,thus boosting the chances of Trnka, whowas seen as the stronger of the two re-maining candidates.

In a secret ballot, which had to berepeated due to technical confusion dur-ing the first vote, Trnka received 84votes, beating his rival, chief specialprosecutor Ján Bernát, who received 58votes.

Trnka, a native of the western Slovaktown of Skalica, finished his legal studiesin the late 1980s and was soon after-wards involved in the investigation ofseveral events surrounding the fall ofcommunism in the former Czechoslov-akia in November 1989.

Before his selection, Trnka served aschief military prosecutor and was there-fore assumed not to have close ties toany political parties.

Lucia Žitňanská and Štefan Harabin. Photo: TASR

2 NEWSFebruary 7 – 13, 2011

Compulsory English gets go ahead

COMPULSORY study of theEnglish language will re-main in the amendment tothe School Act as Slovakia’sparliament decided on Feb-ruary 1 to reject an objectionraised by President IvanGašparovič.

Gašparovič stated thatthe amendment gives pref-erence to English at the ex-pense of other languages andnoted that a number of for-eign ambassadors to Slovakiaexpressed disagreementwith the amendment, theTASR newswire wrote.

Education Minister Eu-gen Jurzyca responded that

not counting the EU memberstates which use English asan official language, Englishcourses are compulsory inmore than half of EU coun-tries.

Ján Mikolaj, Jurzyca’spredecessor as educationminister and an MP from theSlovak National Party (SNS),said that no other classes inthe current national cur-riculum are compulsory un-der the law. He stated thatthe amendment smacks ofpolitics and populism andadded that Slovak schools arenot ready to provide high-quality English studies.

A treaty on citizenship?

DESPITE rather frequent meet-ings between Slovak and Hun-garian leaders during recentweeks, the issue of dual cit-izenship – which has became abone of contention in the twocountries’ bilateral relations,even though governmentschanged on both sides of theDanube during 2010 – still re-mains unresolved and neverfails to produce strong emo-tions among both Slovaks andHungarians.

The issue arose when, inalmost its first act, the newly-installed Viktor Orbán gov-ernment in Budapestamended Hungary’s legisla-tion on citizenship, enablingethnic Hungarians living inother countries, includingSlovakia, to relatively easilyacquire Hungarian citizen-ship. Around 10 percent ofSlovakia’s population is re-garded as ethnically Hungari-an. The Slovak government,then led by Robert Fico, re-sponded by passing anamendment to Slovakia’s Cit-izenship Act specifying that ifany Slovak citizen sought toobtain the citizenship of an-other country he or she wouldautomatically lose their Slov-ak citizenship.

A bilateral treaty floated

Dual citizenship was dis-cussed during an official visitby Prime Minister Orbán toSlovakia on January 28. Attheir meeting Slovak PrimeMinister Iveta Radičová pro-posed that they pursue a bilat-eral treaty, similar to the onethat Slovakia has with theCzech Republic, which woulddeal with the conditions forawarding dual citizenship.Slovakia said it would submita proposed treaty to the inter-governmental commission forstate citizenship at its mid-February session.

“It is in the Slovak interestthat citizens who live in Slov-akia are Slovak citizens, [and]

that they live, work and buildtheir relationships with thestate where they live,”Radičová said, as quoted by theSITA newswire. She added thatOrbán told her that his coun-try would not pursue a cam-paign to encourage Slovak cit-izens to seek Hungarian cit-izenship via the amended law.

Radičová said it is hard totell when a treaty might besigned, as she does not knowhow many comments theHungarian side will make. Shesaid she believes that a bilater-al treaty is the only possiblesolution to the situation.

The Hungarian prime min-ister said that the efforts tosign a bilateral treaty on dualcitizenship failed during theprevious Slovak government,but there is no reason why thenew Slovak proposal shouldnot be considered as the atmo-sphere is now much better forcooperation, after the changeof the government. Orbán ad-ded that previous experiencehad shown that the Hungariancitizenship law “does not comefrom the devil” and that ap-plications for Hungarian cit-izenship are assessed indi-vidually and very strictly.

Political analyst ÁbelRavasz, however, does not ex-pect the Hungarian govern-ment to sign any such treaty,despite the fact that bilateralsolutions to minority ques-tions have plenty of preced-ents in Europe, such as theAustria-Italy or Bosnia-Croa-tia agreements.

“Orbán has already ex-pressed his belief that the issueof dual citizenship is part ofdomestic policy – and only partof domestic policy,” Ravasz toldThe Slovak Spectator. “It is dif-ficult to imagine Fidesz[Orbán’s party] taking a stepbackwards: they are known forbeing tough and bold when itcomes to dealing with interna-tional issues.”

Political analyst MarekRybář of the political sciencedepartment of Bratislava’sComenius University said thata bilateral treaty would be anormal solution, citing the onethat exists between Slovakiaand the Czech Republic.

“In my view, the intentionof a bilateral treaty is accept-able for both sides, but obvi-ously each of them has a differ-ent opinion about what its con-tent should be,” Rybář told TheSlovak Spectator, adding thatwhile the Hungarian sidewants Slovaks granted Hun-garian citizenship to have theright to vote in Hungarian elec-tions, this is unacceptable forthe Slovak government becauseit would mean that Hungarianelection campaigns wouldclosely affect Slovakia.

“From that point of view it’sfar from guaranteed that Slov-akia and Hungary can agree onsuch a treaty,” Rybář said.

Coalition divided

Meanwhile, the Slovakcabinet has passed a draft re-vision of the Citizenship Act

which would remove theprovision that allows thosewho acquire the citizenshipof another state to be strippedof their Slovak citizenship. Atthe same time, however, thecabinet approved a proposalby the Christian DemocraticMovement (KDH) to ban dualcitizenship for police, army,intelligence services and se-curity officers. Public offi-cials who work with classi-fied documents will also bebanned from holding dual cit-izenship.

Rybář said that it is un-derstandable from the view-point of the Slovak govern-ment that they are trying tosolve the situation also byamending the law, but anamendment is not enough tohelp to improve mutual rela-tions and solve the problem.

“The law is a defensive,one-sided step in any case,”Rybář said. “So it would bepreferable, in order to havestable and predictable rela-tions, to have a bilateraltreaty.”

The Slovak parliament isexpected to vote on the draftamendment during its cur-rent session, but the outcomeis hard to predict, particu-larly because Igor Matovič,who leads the OrdinaryPeople faction within theFreedom and Solidarity (SaS)caucus, has dismissed theproposed revision. He wantsto retain the facility to re-move Slovak citizenship frompeople who obtain the cit-izenship of other countries ifthey have not lived, worked,studied or done businessthere for at least a year, or iftheir relatives do not hailfrom the state in question.

On February 2 Matovičsaid his faction would votefor an amendment to the cit-izenship law proposed by theopposition Smer party, in or-der to encourage coalitionleaders to discuss the citizen-ship law with him. Smer'samendment would allowSlovak citizens to obtain thecitizenship of a countrywhere they have been re-gistered as a resident for atleast six months.

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

The two prime ministers. Photo: T. Somogyi

Righteous Slovaks are named by IsraelON February 2 another 19 Slovaks wererecognised for helping Jews survive dur-ing the Holocaust by being awarded theRighteous Among the Nations title, giv-en each year by the Israeli governmentand the Yad Vashem museum to peopleof non-Jewish origin.

January 27, the date in 1945 when theAuschwitz concentration-exterminationcamp was liberated from the Nazis, wasdesignated International Holocaust Re-membrance Day by the United Nations.Each year on this day, the State of Israeland Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum inJerusalem award the Righteous Amongthe Nations title to those who riskedtheir lives, freedom and safety in order torescue Jews from the threat of death ordeportation without expecting monetary

compensation or other reward.The title has been awarded to over

22,000 people all over the world and thereare now over 500 Slovak recipients afterIsrael's ambassador to Slovakia, Alexan-der Ben-Zvi, and Israeli minister andgeneral Yossi Peled, presented another 19Slovaks with the award at a ceremony onFebruary 2 in Bratislava that was also at-tended by President Ivan Gašparovič andPrime Minister Iveta Radičová.

The Slovaks awarded the title, someof them posthumously, in 2011 were: theČunderlík family, Alžbeta Halászová, theHubina family, Anna Knežová-Schonbrunová, the Medvecký family,Michal Rázus, the Roček family, theSlobodník family, the Kúra family andthe Kochláň family.

“These people are the light in thedark history of the Holocaust inSlovakia,” Ambassador Ben- Zvi said.

The stories of those honoured withthe Righteous Among the Nations awardand the Jews they helped to save includestories that unfolded sometimes by coin-cidence which led to ordinary people dis-playing often heroic courage and re-sourcefulness – such as the story of theČunderlík family from the village ofHorný Jelenec, who met a Jewish woman,Adela Singerová, in the forest holding ababy girl in her arms. The family prom-ised Singerová to take care of the baby andthey did so until the end of the war.

By Michaela Terenzaniwith press reports

LINKS: Orbán proposesnew roads, snubs Bugár

Continued from pg 1

The visit was at least inpart motivated by the start ofHungary’s presidency of theEuropean Union. Neverthe-less, political analyst ÁbelRavasz said in an interviewwith The Slovak Spectatorthat it was a welcomed de-velopment in bilateral rela-tions, pointing out that theHungarian and Slovak part-ners discussed policy issuessuch as the gas pipeline andimprovements in highwayconnections during theirmeeting.

“It remains to be seen ifthese talks will have any dir-ect effect on policy,” Ravasztold The Slovak Spectator. Hepointed out that Orbán alsosought to garner some sup-port for his country's belea-guered media law.

Orbán met Slovak PrimeMinister Iveta Radičová aswell as President IvanGašparovič and Speaker ofParliament Richard Sulíkduring his one-day visit.

Gas pipeline link

Radičová told the mediathat she and Orbán hadspoken about Hungary’s newmedia law, which has attrac-ted much domestic and in-ternational criticism, butshe did not reveal any fur-ther details.

The agreement to build a100-kilometre-long gaspipeline between Hungaryand Slovakia which will be-come part of a more extens-ive pipeline system connect-ing all four Visegrad Groupcountries with the aim ofboosting energy security incentral Europe was one ofthe specific outcomes of themeeting.

“This is a step thatmeans better energy secur-ity for Slovakia,” Radičovátold journalists, as quoted bythe Reuters newswire.

The Visegrad Groupcountries, which receivemost of their natural gasfrom Russia, are keen to di-versify their gas supplysources, build newpipelines, upgrade existingones and increase storagecapacity.

The new pipeline will bebuilt by a unit of Slovakia’sdominant gas distributor,SPP – managed by France'sGDF Suez and Germany'sE.ON which own a 49-per-cent joint stake – andHungary’s FGSZ transmis-sion system operator, theReuters newswire reported.

The prime ministersalso discussed various im-provements in infrastruc-ture.

Hungary is interested inbuilding a new bridge overthe Danube River atKomárno and reconstruct-ing 84 roads which at onetime connected Slovak andHungarian territories,Orbán said, adding that this

plan also involves recon-struction of bridges acrossthe Ipeľ River.

The Hungarians are alsoprepared to launch con-struction of roads thatwould connect withSlovakia’s R4 dual carriage-way. After this route is fin-ished, a dual carriagewaywould link Hungary and Po-land via the eastern Slovakcities of Košice and Prešov,the SITA newswire reported.

Picky about partners

After his meetings inBratislava, Orbán travelledto the southern Slovak townof Dunajská Streda where hemet representatives of thenon-parliamentary Hun-garian Coalition Party(SMK). It was his secondmeeting with SMK chairmanJózsef Berényi over thecourse of two days asBerényi had visited Orbán inBudapest before his trip toBratislava.

Most-Híd, the party es-tablished by ethnic-Hun-garian renegades from theSMK under the leadership offormer SMK chairman BélaBugár, again remained ‘outof the game’ even thoughthey had requested a meet-ing with Orbán.

Most-Híd also had its re-quest to meet HungarianPresident Pál Schmitt re-buffed when he visited Slov-akia a week earlier.

“They don’t evenanswer,” Bugár commented,as quoted by the Sme daily.“They twice ignored us, ifyou want.”

Ravasz stated thatOrbán’s dealings with Most-Híd fall into his strategy indealing with Hungarianminority parties in othercountries throughout the re-gion.

“The Orbán government[dominated by his Fideszparty] has been particularlychoosy with regard to Hun-garian minority parties inthe region, including decid-ing to support one and onlyone party in Ukraine and ex-clusively supporting anewly-established, thirdHungarian party inRomania,” Ravasz said.

According to Ravasz, theSMK has been a close part-ner of Fidesz for severalyears, adding that Orbán’sgovernment made its pref-erence clear during thepolitical campaigns beforeSlovakia’s two elections lastyear by supporting SMK andits candidates.

“Most-Híd is officiallydisqualified from Hungarian[government] to Hungarian[ethnic party] regional talkson the basis that Most-Híd isnot purely ethnic, but rathera “mixed” or “civic” party;but the real underlyingcauses can be found at thelevel of politics rather thanat the level of ideology,”Ravasz said.

3February 7 – 13, 2011NEWS

FNM wants to sell heating firmsTHE NATIONAL Property Fund(FNM), Slovakia’s agency thatholds many state assets anddeals with issues of privatisa-tion, has decided that sellingthe country’s six largest cent-ral heating companies whichit owns to private companieswould be advantageous.

“Immediate proceedsfrom the sale are more benefi-cial from the fiscal point ofview as well as in consolida-tion of public funds than theFNM’s long-term position incompanies of only localimportance,” the agencystated in its analysis of theeconomic benefits of retain-ing ownership and collectingdividends or selling the heat-ing companies, the SITAnewswire reported.

The FNM estimated thatthe privatisation processcould be completed within a

year if the government ap-proves the sale of the heatingcompanies in Bratislava,Žilina, Martin, Zvolen,Trnava, and Košice.

The market price of the sixheating companies is estim-ated at €160 million to €200million and the FNM said thesale should be handledthrough a bidding process.

Because prices for heatfrom the central heatingplants will continue to beregulated, the FNM statedthat privatisation would notnegatively affect consumers,adding that private investorscould best secure future in-vestments in the facilities.

The government will dealwith the recommendationonly after the leaders of thefour parties in the CoalitionCouncil have discussed it,SITA wrote.

Slovakia is a ‘moderate innovator’

SLOVAKIA has been categor-ised as a ‘moderate innovat-or’ on the Innovation UnionScoreboard (IUS), a chart as-sessing the innovation per-formance of 28 Europeanstates in 2010, the TASRnewswire reported.

Slovakia, which was inthe same category in 2009, isaccompanied by countriessuch as Croatia, the CzechRepublic, Greece, Hungary,Malta, Poland, Portugal,Spain and Italy. ‘Moderateinnovators’ are ranked thirdout of four groups: below‘innovation leaders’ and‘innovation followers’ butahead of ‘modest innovators'.

“The level of innovationin Slovakia is below the EUaverage. Slovakia’s ratherstrong side is human re-sources and output, whilecompany investment in in-novations and intellectualassets are its weakerspheres,” the report states,as quoted by TASR.

The report uses variousdata provided by Eurostat,the World Bank and the In-ternational Monetary Fund,and factors in 25 indicatorssuch as the number of re-gistered patents per capita,and public and company ex-penditure on research anddevelopment.

ČSOB sells its pension fund firm

POŠTOVÁ Banka will acquire100-percent control overČSOB d.s.s., a pension fundmanagement company pre-viously owned by ČSOBbank, the SITA newswire re-ported.

The value of the transac-tion was not disclosed andmust still be approved by theNational Bank of Slovakiaand the Antitrust Office. Thetransaction and the takeoverprocess may be completedwithin a few months.

ČSOB d.s.s. was estab-lished as a 100-percent affili-ate of ČSOB in 2004 in ac-cordance with Slovakia’s old-age pension saving law. Thepension fund currently

serves nearly 94,000 clientsand their savings are inves-ted in three funds (conser-vative, balanced and growthfunds) and amounted to al-most €210 million as ofDecember 31, 2010.

The purchase of the pen-sion fund managementcompany enhances PoštováBanka’s investment servicesportfolio, a bank spokesper-son said.

The chairman of ČSOB'sboard of directors, DanielKollár, said that the pensionmanagement fund was nolonger a strategic businessline for his bank, SITA wrote.

Compiled by Spectator staff

TALK: Unions are readyto discuss proposals

Continued from pg 1

“The lower the salary andthe lower the position withinthe company, the higher thelevel of protection for anemployee,” Radičová said, asquoted by the TASR newswire.

In its official release, theministry stated that its pro-posed Labour Code will bemore family-friendly, givingboth employers and employ-ees an option to work flexiblehours based on their ownneeds. The ministry gave anexample of an employer hav-ing the opportunity to distrib-ute tasks linked to one specificwork position among severalemployees by creating ashared position. The possibil-ity of using parental leave un-til a child’s 5th year is also onthe ministry’s list of changes.

The government is alsoproposing a shorter proba-tionary period for employeesin lower positions while des-ignating longer periods for po-sitions with higher pay. Theproposal provides an employerwith the option of negotiatinga flexible combination of sev-erance pay and layoff noticewith an employee, while theminimum notice period woulddepend on the number of yearsof employment with a firm ororganisation.

The ministry listed fivereasons why it is seeking toamend the Labour Code, stat-ing first that the law’s currentform is unfair because it doesnot take into consideration thedifferent status of employeesbased on their salary levels orpositions in a firm. The min-istry stated that a low-levelworker needs more protectionthan a top manager who hasdecision-making powers. An-other reason for change, ac-cording to the ministry, is thatthe current law does not re-flect different life situationslinked with students’ em-ployment or parents withsmall children. It also statedthat some parts of the LabourCode burden both employeesand employers with redund-ant bureaucracy.

The ministry said the cur-rent law lacks flexibility in re-gards to employees changingjobs as well as in the possibilityof employees seeking higherearnings.

The fifth criticism theministry offered to the currentcode is that it mandates unne-cessary privileges to public of-ficials and union representat-ives at the expense of socialdialogue, collective bargain-ing and equal representationof all employees.

Employers want clearerdefinitions

Ondrej Matejka, a lawyerand advisor to the Associationof Employer Unions of Slov-

akia (AZZZ), told The SlovakSpectator that the proposals bythe government respond tothe challenge of keepingSlovakia’s economy competit-ive with economies of othercentral and eastern Europeancountries and would createconditions to sustain or evenincrease employment.

Matejka said he sees theproposed amendment as amodern approach to regula-tion of the labour market butadded that it does not dealwith all the areas he considersto be problematic. He statedhe is positive about the pro-spect of more flexible legalwork relationships and redu-cing employers’ administrat-ive burden as well as introdu-cing complete flexibility inworking time.

Matejka noted, however,that the proposed ways of ter-minating an employment con-tract might be conflicting andsaid the rationale for stretch-ing parental leave to five yearsneeds to be explained suffi-ciently. He added that it will benecessary to carefully assesshow the work habits and skillsof a parent on long-term par-ental leave can be preserved sothat an employer’s operationalregime is not damaged.

Matejka also called formore exact definitions in thelaw for violations of workingdiscipline or at least clearercategories such as serious orless serious violations, notingthat the actual interpretationof these violations and cat-egories would be determinedthrough real-life cases sincemany court trials are chargedwith assessing these specificcircumstances.

“The absence of these leg-al definitions is exactly thereason for the high number ofworkplace conflicts that go tocourt and their related im-pact not only on economy butalso on the legal certainty ofthe subjects of theserelations,” Matejka told TheSlovak Spectator.

Matejka also suggestedthat senates or panels could becreated for resolving such con-

flicts based on a bipartite ortripartite principle involvingqualified representatives ofemployers and employees orusing mediators or throughcollective bargaining.

Matejka also urged thatthe law should introduce aspecific employment contractfor managers that would per-mit the highest possible flex-ibility in working conditionswithin the legislative para-meters and which would, inparticular, deal with abuse ofknow-how and trade secrets ofan employer.

Employers also want to seea widening of the possibility touse different types of tempor-ary workers, Matejka said.

Juraj Borgula, vice-presid-ent of the Federation of Mech-anical Engineering of theSlovak Republic, told TheSlovak Spectator that thegovernment’s propositionsare giving him the impressionthat the ministry also intendsto change some of the basicpremises of the Labour Code,pointing specifically to theshifting of some matters, suchas working hours or starting orending employment relation-ships, from regulation underthe law to collective or indi-vidual bargaining.

Borgula added that he con-siders the proposed defini-tions regarding the legitimacyof unions or employee councilsin representing employees tobe problematic.

Unions see problems

Miroslav Gazdík, the pres-ident of KOZ, said on February 2that at first sight some of theproposals evoke “satisfaction”but when they are consideredmore thoroughly they bring “asmile” and “if one goes intotheir details, then certainconcerns”, the SITA newswirewrote.

Trade unions will now takesome time to analyse the pro-positions.

"We have submitted thetheses to our economic expertsand analysts, who should ana-lyse them by next Wednesday,"

KOZ spokesman Otto Ewiaktold The Slovak Spectator.

Earlier in January thetrade union confederation an-nounced a petition drive underthe banner “Preserving theRights of Employees” andclaimed that its proposals inthe petition would bring stepsthat would ‘humanise’ theworking environment: a35-hour week – as opposed tothe current 40 hours – withouta reduction in pay as well as anoverall limit on overtime workof 80 hours per calendar year.

“It is not economicallysustainable,” Radičová said inresponse to those demands, asquoted by the SITA newswire.“There is a great probabilitythat shortening the workingweek would automaticallymean a reduction of incomefrom work and we would notallow that risk.”

Ewiak told The SlovakSpectator in an earlier inter-view that the petition was aresponse to what unionistssee as the “threat” of large-scale changes to the currentLabour Code.

On February 1 approxim-ately 250 people took part in aprotest organised by KOVOagainst the proposed changesto the Labour Code in front ofthe Yazaki Wiring Technolo-gies firm based in Michalovce.On February 3 one third ofdrivers of the Košice publictransport company went onstrike to protest against thechanges in the Labour Code.

The leader of the opposi-tion Smer party, Robert Fico,stated that the battle over theform of a revised Labour Codeis central to his political party.

“This is as important for usas perhaps abortion is for theChristian Democrats,” Ficosaid on January 9 in an inter-view with SITA. “We will takea very principled stand behindthe protection in the form ofthe Labour Code and we rejectthe interventions that therightist government is talkingabout today.”

Jana Liptákovácontributed to this report.

Trade unions have mounted several protests against changes to the Labour Code. Photo:TASR

4 BUSINESS / NEWSFebruary 7 – 13, 2011

Monthly state deficit nearly €18m

THE STATE budget recorded a€17.74 million deficit inJanuary 2011, the FinanceMinistry announced on Feb-ruary 1, as reported by theTASR newswire.

In the same period lastyear, the state recorded asurplus of €22.81 million.

The overall deficit for 2011 isexpected to reach €3.8 bil-lion. State revenue stood at€830.38 million in January,an increase of 3.75 percentyear-on-year. Expendituresreached €848.11 million, a9.08 percent jump comparedto January 2010.

Crazy shop

PARENTS who are starting topanic over of the suddenspread of “crazy shops”,selling synthetic substanceswith effects similar tomarijuana or cocaine, shouldfind it easy to calm down.Firstly, before the arrival ofcrazy shops, buying drugswas just as easy. No need toget excited now. And if thatdoesn’t work, there are scoresof politicians to keep oneamused with their anti-drugsrhetoric. “We will doeverything in our power toput an end to these shops,”said Bratislava Self-Govern-ing Region head Pavol Frešo.Health Minister Ivan Uh-liarik is preparing new legis-lation to make it easier to bannew substances which arenot yet illegal.

You don’t really need aspecialised store to find weedat the Comenius Universitycampus in Bratislava, and thedevelopment of new drugswill always outpace the speedwith which they can bebanned. So perhaps politi-cians should take the oppor-tunity and finally also start

thinking about somethingwhich actually might work –decriminalising drug use.

The supposedly liberal SaSparty proposed the decrimin-alisation of marijuana use be-fore last year’s elections, butgave up on the promise rightat the start of coalition talks.The fact is that smoking pot iscommon, even in conservat-ive Slovakia, and sanctionsseems to have little visible ef-fect. What they do mean isthat many kids, who willgrow-up to be law-abiding cit-izens, end up with a tarnishedcriminal record. And that insearch of a “legal” supplementthey visit Crazy Shops, whoseproducts may be much moredangerous than home-grownmarijuana. When it comes todrugs, more emphasis on re-pression can mean more risk.

Unfortunately, thisconcept would strike mostSlovak politicians as rathercrazy.

SNS soap opera reloadedJÁN Slota and AnnaBelousovová buried thehatchet in 2003 after theirpersonal vendettas kept boththe Slovak National Party(SNS) and Slota’s short-livedrevenge party, the Real Slov-ak National Party (PSNS),from reaching parliament in2002. They even had a kiss ata press conference to sealtheir alliance in front of tele-vision cameras and photo-graphers. Eight years later itappears as if their unifica-tion was nothing but a tem-porary ceasefire while theparty was struggling to crawlcloser to power or actuallybegan exercising it thanks toRobert Fico’s notorious de-cision to invite the SNS toform a government with himin 2006.

In 2001 Belousovová, thenusing her maiden nameMalíková, acted to suspendSlota’s membership in theSNS – setting off a process ofdisintegration which gavebirth to two nationalistparties, with the only differ-ence between the original andthe clone, or vice versa, beingthe intensity of their jingoismand the pejoratives used todescribe those who weredefined as enemies of theSlovak nation.

Belousovová blamed Slotafor harming the party’s cred-ibility with the public. Yet sheunderestimated the fact thatwhat Slota’s opponents andcritics find most appallingabout him is what attractsmany SNS voters and card-carrying members. Most SNSmembers have never dis-tanced themselves from Slotaand his antics and as politicalscientist Miroslav Kusý oncenoted: “They are what Slota islike, and Slota is what theyare like”.

Now in 2011, Slota is kick-ing Belousovová out of theSNS, claiming that she has anunquenchable thirst forpower. Of course, the ar-ranged expulsion came afterwhat Slota and his buddiescalled grave damage to theSNS caused by Belousovová’s

comments to the media.Why is Belousovová’s de-

parture worthy of an editorialwhen the SNS is a small op-position party with national-ism as its sole fuel? Becausethis latest version of tit-for-tat between Slota and

Belousovová shows again thatthe party lacks any seriouspublic policy programme andthat when it is deprived ofpolitical power – which it ex-ercised for four years amidclear cases of cronyism andoutrageous scandals at theministries it controlled – openinternal conflict is its onlymodus operandi.

The recent events alsoshow that Slota andBelousovová are nothingmore than political folk fig-ures who are not taken seri-ously by more credible polit-ical leaders. Belousovová lastacquired a mass audiencewhen she slapped a fellow-MP, Igor Matovič of the Free-dom and Solidarity party, inthe face because he had re-ferred to her as “Anča”.

Fico, of course, knew thecharacter of Slota andBelousovová in 2006 and hewas surely aware of the fabricfrom which SNS is sewn.Nevertheless, Fico still in-vited them for a four-yearruling ride, driven by his ownthirst for power, while

serving up the argument thatthe SNS was a better partnerthan others for Smer to pur-sue its social objectives.

Slota and Belousovováhave crossed the boundariesof human decency manytimes in their quarrels: Slotasaid about Belousovová, asquoted by Sme, that “unsatis-fied women who are unableto marry or to give birth to areal Slovak man, find fulfil-ment in Slovak politics;however they are still veryfar from understanding it”.

Belousovová had calledSlota a drunkard and a brute inthe past, but after the 2003ceasefire she silently toed theparty line, supporting the manwho several times had calledher “a mad cow”.

They have called eachother so many spiteful namesthat one would have thoughtthat there was no possibilityof a civil relationship or eventoleration of each other’spresence. Yet, their sharedthirst for power was more de-cisive.

What Belousovová diddifferently when she chairedthe SNS was to refine herrhetoric and offer opinions ona wider range of issues thanSlota ever did. She alsoseemed more acceptable to awider political spectrum – butnot, of course, to hard-coreSNS voters. The conflictbetween Belousovová andSlota has never been overpolitical principles, Slovaknationalism, enemies of thestate, or the party's orienta-tion: both of them kept theSNS on the far-right fringe,oriented on a very narrowagenda.

What this newest chapterin their saga really shows isthat some politicians cannotchange their very essence. Inthe same way, it is unlikelythat Robert Fico will trans-form himself and, if given theopportunity in the future,perhaps after Slota andBelousovová have kissed andmade up, he would again in-vite the couple onto his polit-ical bandwagon.

5OPINION / NEWS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The news reports that say I eat innocent Slovakchildren for breakfast aren’t true.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stresses during a visit toBratislava that he wants to have good relations with Slovakia

SLOVAK WORDOF THE WEEK EDITORIAL

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

BY LUKÁŠ FILASpecial to the Spectator

February 7 – 13, 2011

COURTS: Chief justice cries foulContinued from pg 2

“Therefore I regard thepassing of this amendment asan important step towardsrestoring trust in the institu-tion of the Slovak Republic,and mainly trust in itsjudiciary,” Radičová said.

She pointed out thatJustice Minister Žitňanskágave up some of her powers infavour of the reform. The min-ister will no longer have theauthority to decide abouttemporary suspension ofjudges; that power now passesto disciplinary senates, theJustice Ministry reported.

“We went for a new ap-proach, which started off withtelling the truth about thestate of judiciary, by propos-ing changes in favour of the

ordinary participants in courtproceedings, and by fightingcronyism in the selection ofnew judges,” Žitňanská said,adding that judging from thestrong reactions the passingof the amendment has pro-voked, “we have touched asensitive spot for [oppositionparty] Smer, [former primeminister Vladimír] Mečiar and[Supreme Court PresidentŠtefan] Harabin”.

However, Peter Wilflingpointed to at least one provi-sion which he regards as prob-lematic. It allows the justiceminister to dismiss the pres-ident of a court for any reason,and denies the judge in ques-tion the opportunity to re-quire an investigation intowhether his or her dismissalwas lawful.

Strong reactions

Harabin dubbed the law“the worst possible solutionfor the judiciary”, and saidhe was very disappointedabout the fact that he wasnot allowed to speak in thedebate about the amend-ment in parliament.

Harabin was particularlyopposed to the newly-intro-duced selection process forjudges and said that there isnothing wrong with the factthat the children of judgesfollow in the footsteps oftheir parents and enter thesame profession. Harabinhimself has a son who cur-rently works as a judicialclerk.

“I invite Žitňanská totest my son [to see] whether

he is professionally weak,”Harabin said, as quoted bythe Sme daily. “I dare to saythat he is on a better profes-sional level than Žitňanská.”

Žitňanská maintainsthat judicial clerks shouldnot have guaranteed futurepositions as judges and thatthey should be submitted toa selection process and faceopen competition.

Opposition MP RóbertMadej, who is also Smer’sshadow justice minister,said the ruling coalition isattempting to win politicalcontrol over the judiciary.He believes the amendmentis unconstitutional andplans to file a complaintwith the ConstitutionalCourt, the TASR newswirereported.

Crazy shops have mushroomed in Slovakia after they were banned in Poland.Photo: Sme - Tomáš Benedikovič

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Norway shares itsCSR know-how

SLOVAKIA, a small country inthe middle of Europe, is beingeyed from several angles bybusinesses from Norway, aNordic country which is not amember of the EU.

“Economic cooperationbetween Norway and Slov-akia is limited, but steadilygrowing,” Torgal Stahl, thefirst secretary of the RoyalNorwegian Embassy in Brat-islava, told The Slovak Spec-tator. “Trade between Slov-akia and Norway amounts toabout €325 million, with thevast majority being Slovakproducts exported toNorway.”

Total Norwegian invest-ments in Slovakia come toabout €166 million, TimeaNemesová from the foreigndirect investment section ofthe Slovak Investment andTrade Development Agency(SARIO) told The Slovak Spec-tator. Of this amount, €133million has been invested inindustrial facilities that havecreated approximately 2,000jobs. Nemesová added that

between 2002 and 2010SARIO successfully cooper-ated on several Norwegianinvestment projects in thetextile and electro-technicalindustries which creatednearly 300 jobs.

Stahl sees the Norwegianand EEA Financial Mechan-isms to be the most import-ant pillars of the cooperationwith Slovakia. Through thesemechanisms Norway, Ice-land and Liechtenstein havecontributed more than €70million to various projects inSlovakia during the periodfrom 2004 to 2009.

“The contribution willincrease to €80 million forthe next five-year period andthe Norwegian contributionto these grants is 97.5 per-cent of the totalcontribution,” said Stahl.

“The grants not only con-tribute to reduction of socialand economic disparities inSlovakia but have also con-tributed to strengtheningcooperation between thetwo countries, as many ofthe projects supported bythe grants have Norwegianpartners.”

See OSLO pg 9

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

Some Norwegian companies inSlovakia

Slovalco, Žiar nad Hronom, www.slovalco.sk- a producer of aluminium and aluminium productsDet Norske Veritas, Bratislava, www.dnv.sk- a provider of risk management servicesKongsberg Automotive, Vráble,www.kongsbergautomotive.com- a producer of gearshifters and other car componentsEltek Valere, Liptovský Hrádok, www.eltekvalere.com- a developer of energy systems for telecoms and industryTimms, Trenčín, www.timms.no- a producer of premium quality ropes

Compiled by Spectator staff

Norwegian institutions in Slovakia

Royal Norwegian Embassywww.norway.skNorwegian Ambassador to Slovakia: Trine Skymoen

Norway: General facts

Head of state: King Harald VForm of government: Parliamentary democracyCapital: OsloTotal area: 385,199 square kilometresPopulation: 4.8 millionOfficial languages: Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk);in some districts Sámi is also an official languageCurrency: Norwegian krone

Source: www.norway.sk

Bringing everyone inside

INCLUSION is one of thewords that surfaces often dur-ing discussion with TrineSkymoen whenever she isasked to talk about the besttraditions of her homeland.The Norwegian ambassador toSlovakia says that Norway isable to sit atop various humandevelopment indices becausethe Nordic social model ischaracterised by pulling allpeople inside society and leav-ing very few outside of its em-brace. She believes thatgender equality in Norway, forexample, did not just happen –that the government as wellas Norwegian women andmen had to work hard toachieve this aspect of socialinclusion.

The Slovak Spectatorspoke to Ambassador Sky-moen about gender equality,social dialogue, the recent vis-it of the Norwegian royalcouple to Slovakia, andNorway’s support to preserveEuropean cultural heritage, aswell as about the significanceof Norwegian BjornstjerneMartinius Bjornson, the 1903Nobel laureate in literature,who passionately supportedcultural independence forSlovaks in 1907 and 1908.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):According to a UN ranking,Norway is the world's topcountry in measures of qual-ity of life. How has Norwayachieved this?

Trine Skymoen (TS): Isuppose it is the high standardof living, good education, alow unemployment rate andsteady economic growth thathas helped Norway to climbthat high on the UN’s HumanDevelopment Index. Anotherreason is that the wealth ofthe country is accessible to thewidest possible group ofpeople. The Nordic model fo-cuses on decreasing inequalit-ies and sharing the country’swealth, which I do not meanonly in the material sense ofthe word.

TSS: Norway has progressedsignificantly in genderequality and presumablythis is also part of the Nordicmodel of sharing. How hasthis happened?

TS: To have a high stand-ard of living it is importantthat men and women are ableto equally access educationand work opportunities –which mean equal access aspart of society. And of coursepeople who have equivalent

access to society are happierthan people who feel left out.The Nordic social welfaremodel itself is characterisedby pulling all people insideand leaving very few behind.

But both our social welfaresystem and our gender equal-ity are the result of politicalwill. These things do not justhappen. Someone has to makethem happen and in Norwaythis political will to changewas shared by consecutivegovernments.

Of course, both the socialwelfare model and genderequality call for an active ap-proach. State policies are de-signed in a way to make it pos-sible for both women and mento work and raise a family. Bylaw all children have a right toattend kindergartens; thestate does not pay for thembut it makes sure that parentswho want to have both workand family have the means toachieve that. This is one of thereasons why Norway has oneof the highest rates ofwomen’s participation in thelabour force. We have quotasthat suggest that politicalparties should have 40 per-cent women on their candid-ate lists to ensure women inlocal governments and theboards of publicly-listed com-panies must have 40 percentwomen. So the quotas helpwomen to get there. It wasvery often the case that com-panies would say, ‘we wantwomen in our company butwe cannot find them’ or theyhave argued that womenaren’t willing to take up high-er positions. If a companymust have women, they willfind qualified women.

On one hand we focus onwomen so that they are able toparticipate on the same foot-

ing but on the other hand wealso focus on getting morebalance in the family sphere;but those are issues that thestate cannot decide for famil-ies. For example, familieshave one year of paid parentalleave and 12 weeks are re-served for men. However, ifthe father does not take his 12weeks, it does not go to themother. It is important thatthere are male role modelswho actually take this leave;in Norway we have many ex-amples of men, for instanceministers in our government,who are on parental leave.Also, this is not somethingthat only rich countries canafford because this also in-volves the necessity of usingthe potential of 50 percent ofthe population – women.

Again, it is a matter of in-clusion and social dialogue.We have a very strong systemof social dialogue that worksat different levels which hascontributed to the Norwegianeconomic success. For ex-ample, tripartite dialoguebetween the government,employers and trade unionsworks quite effectively andthe three parties are able towork out compromise de-cisions on important issues.When we design a pension re-form, we know that it has tobe made in a way that it lastsbeyond the next election orbeyond the next leader of thetrade unions.

TSS: Through grants fromthe Norwegian FinancialMechanism and the EEA Fin-ancial Mechanism yourcountry is actively helpingSlovakia to preserve its cul-tural heritage, such asworks of art in our old min-ing town of Banská

Štiavnica. Why does Norwaysupport these activities?

TS: Together with Icelandand Liechtenstein, Norway isproviding €80 million to Slov-akia for the upcoming periodto spend on sectors which areimportant for the country aswell as to Norway. Slovakiahas a rich cultural heritage sowe do support its preserva-tion. By preserving the wed-ding palace in Bytča or theExecutioner’s Flat in Košice orthe Reduta in Bratislava weare preserving European his-tory as well. The restoration ofa historical water mill in VeľkéTeriakovce was an initiativeby two women, a mother anddaughter, from a small villagenear Rimavská Sobota. Nowthe restored building servesas the local heritage museum.It did impress me that thiswas a local initiative; thewomen had the idea for theproject and applied for thegrant because they wanted tohave the mill preserved. It isone of those small localprojects that make a differ-ence in the community whileretaining an important part oftheir history.

I have tried to visit all theplaces where my country isinvolved but we have 100 in-dividual projects, includingenvironmental, cultural her-itage and also renewable en-ergy efforts, and it would behardly possible to see them all.

TSS: A business delegationaccompanied the Norwegianroyal couple during their re-cent visit to Slovakia. Whatwas the business focus?Where is the greatest poten-tial for cooperation?

TS: It was a rather largebusiness delegation, includ-ing 70 people. It shows thatNorwegian businesses are in-terested and perhaps morethan a bit curious about Slov-akia and its market. It in-volved different businessareas: from tunnel construc-tion up to renewable energy,the mapping industry andalso companies interested insocial responsibility. Theyrepresented quite a broadspectrum of the Norwegianeconomy. What is most im-portant for Norwegian in-vestors, or for any investor forthat matter, is a stable busi-ness environment with notolerance for corruption and awell-functioning judiciary sothat you can trust that yourinvestment would be handledin a fair way. We also held aseminar on corporate socialresponsibility that touchedon these general issues.

See TS pg 10

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Ambassador Trine Skymoen Photo: Courtesy of RNE

6 February 7 – 13, 2011

INVESTMENT GROUPS

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

NORWAY

Danish firmsacross Slovakia

DENMARK belongs amongthe countries that are medi-um-to-large business part-ners with Slovakia. Danishinvestors in Slovakia do busi-ness primarily in various in-dustrial branches as well asthe service sector and havemade investments in easternas well as western Slovakia.Though Danish investors areoperating successfully inSlovakia, the Danish ambas-sador noted that certain as-pects of the Slovak businessenvironment are seen as bur-eaucratic and inflexible incomparison to the require-ments in Denmark.

“Slovak-Danish relationsare not burdened with anyunresolved questions,” TimeaNemesová from the foreigndirect investments section ofthe Slovak Investment andTrade Development Agency(SARIO) told The Slovak Spec-

tator. “Economic cooperationis being carried out especiallyon the basis of direct contactsbetween companies, profes-sional associations andchambers of commerce.”

She praised the coopera-tion received from the Dan-ish-Slovak business-to-busi-ness association, whosemembers are Danish busi-nesspeople with operationsin Slovakia.

According to preliminarydata from Slovakia’s StatisticsOffice, goods imported fromDenmark between Januaryand October 2010 were worth€158.8 million, making up 0.4percent of Slovakia’s totalimports. Exports to Denmarkamounted to €266.9 millionin the same period and madeup 0.7 percent of Slovakia’stotal exports. The flow of for-eign direct investment fromDenmark to Slovakia in 2009was about €70.4 million basedon data from the NationalBank of Slovakia.

See DANES pg 9

Some Danish companies in Slovakia

Danfoss Slovensko, Zlaté Moravce,www.danfoss.com/Slovakia- produces components and systems for refrigeration, airconditioning, heating, and industrial automationDan-Slovakia Agrar, Nový Dvor (near Veľký Meder),www.dsa.sk- an agricultural company specialising in pig, dairy andcrop productionDatatherm, Teplička nad Váhom, www.datatherm.sk- produces computer control systems, measurement andregulation technologies and heating technologiesEcco, Martin, www.ecco.com- a manufacturer of brand-name footwearMarius Pedersen, Trenčín, www.mariuspedersen.sk- environmental and waste disposal servicesVelux, Partizánske, www.velux.sk- a producer of roof windows with a production plant,Partizánske Building Components-SK

Compiled by Spectator staff

Danish institutions in Slovakia

Embassy of Denmarkwww.ambbratislava.um.dkAmbassador of Denmark to Slovakia: Anita Hugau

Denmark: General facts

Head of state: Queen Margrethe IIForm of government: Parliamentary democracyCapital: CopenhagenTotal area: 43,094 square kilometresPopulation: 5.5 millionOfficial language: DanishCurrency: Danish krone

Source: www.denmark.dk

Danes living a green life

ANITA Hugau is a proponentof the ‘green Danish fairytale’:her homeland is geared to-wards using renewable en-ergy and ‘cleantech’ techno-logies. Yet the ambassador ofDenmark is pleased that thestories of Danish fairytale au-thor Hans Christian Andersenresonate with many Slovaksand is impressed that threedifferent theatres in Bratis-lava are staging different in-terpretations of the SnowQueen this winter.

The Slovak Spectatorspoke to Ambassador Hugauabout the interest of foreignworkers in Denmark, English-language knowledge there,the European currency, theDanish tradition of Folke-hojskole, as well as about cul-tural bridges between the twonations.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):According to a 2010 NewYork Times article, thepeople of Copenhagen notonly talk about a green life-style, but actually live it –and the city was ranked fifthamong 31 cities it recom-mended visiting. Is this so-called green lifestyle alsocharacteristic of otherplaces in Denmark?

Anita Hugau (AH): Yes – ofcourse. It’s a widespread andnational phenomenon. Thebicycle is the preferred meansof transportation in most cit-ies, including of course thebigger cities. In the majorityof newly built residentialareas in the suburbs you willfind very energy efficienthouses, even so-called “zeroenergy houses”. I can evenmention my favourite islandin Denmark, Samsoe, wherethe total energy consumptioncomes from renewablesources. Sustainable trashmanagement has also spreadnationally. Just to mention afew examples.

TSS: Denmark was the firstcountry to implement en-vironmental legislation andestablished the first envir-onment ministry. Today,Denmark claims to be amongthe world’s leaders in“cleantech” technologiesand the country is verymuch geared towards usingrenewable energy sources,especially wind power.What factors have determ-ined the country’s progressin this area?

AH: Denmark has man-aged to combine solid econom-

ic growth with an ambitiousand effective effort withinclimate change and environ-mental protection. How? Thishas been made possible due tomany factors as a concerted ef-fort and dialogue between abroad range of actors: a vision-ary and innovative private sec-tor, strong and constructivegrassroots, courageous politi-cians, ambitious and hard-working civil servants, etc.

TSS: According to the Den-mark Update website, des-pite the recent financialcrisis and higher unem-ployment rates, the numberof foreign workers in Den-mark remains approxim-ately the same. What are thereasons behind Denmarkremaining popular for for-eign workers?

AH: Denmark has a verystrong welfare state includinghigh standards in the schoolsand universities; and not toforget the good services with-in the health-care sector. Thatmight be an attraction.Moreover we have a verystrong labour market withhigh level of standards in thesocial sphere, the so-called“flexicurity” model. Denmarkis an open society for foreignworkers in different sectors,e.g. in the construction sectorand in health care.

TSS: There is a unique Dan-ish tradition called Folke-hojskole which is a specificeducational institution foryoung people aged between19 and 25. What is specialabout these schools andwhy has this tradition sur-vived for over 150 years?

AH: The Folkehojskole isreally a Danish phenomenon.Historically the Folke-hojskole has been vital togeneral enlightening andeducation in Denmark. At thevery same time it has taughtpeople social tolerance and tofeel responsible for the soci-ety. The Folkehojskole hasplayed a very important rolein achieving social cohesionin Denmark.

TSS: At Slovak schools Eng-lish will soon become amandatory subject. What isthe experience of Denmarkwith teaching foreign lan-guages, especially English?

AH: Denmark is a minorcountry – like Slovakia.Hardly anyone outside Den-mark speaks Danish. As a con-sequence we have to learnforeign languages. Foreigntrade, travelling and exchan-ging cultures are vital forDenmark and the Danes. Wecouldn’t manage on such abroad level without a gener-ally high level in English and

other languages. Concerningthe English language we startalready in the fourth grade, at10-11 years old.

TSS: In a September 2000referendum Danes rejectedthe replacement of theDanish krone by the euro.What is the current stancein Denmark towards thesingle European currency?What has Slovakia’s adop-tion of the euro meant forpotential Danish investorsin Slovakia?

AH: Currently Danishmembership of the eurozoneis not high on the politicalagenda. No doubt the Danishgovernment would have pre-ferred another referendumon the Danish euro opt-out.However the governmenthas had to acknowledge thatthe current combination ofparties in the Folketinget,the Danish parliament, madea majority vote in favour of areferendum impossible. Thenext general election for par-liament will take place onNovember 12 at the latest.Hence the next governmentand the combination ofparties in the parliament de-pend on this forthcomingelection and of course onDanish voters.

For the time being we aremuch more concerned aboutthe whole economic situ-ation in Europe and meas-ures to improve it, not leastdevelopments within theeurozone. As you may know,Denmark will hold the EUpresidency in the first half of2012. That might be a catalystfor new discussions aboutDanish membership in theeurozone.

The majority of the cur-rent Danish investors in Slov-akia invested here even beforeSlovakia adopted the euro. Ipersonally believe that theDanish interest in investingin Slovakia is influenced byseveral other factors and thatthe euro is today just one ofthese factors. Moreover theDanish currency, the krone, ispegged to the euro via theEuropean Union’s exchangerate mechanism.

TSS: Is the Slovak businessenvironment an attractiveinvestment environmentfor Danish companies?Where do you see some morepotential for cooperation?

AH: Slovakia still offerscheap and qualified labourwith a central market posi-tion. Denmark provides high-tech industrial solutions andagricultural know-how.

See AH pg 9

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Ambassador Anita Hugau Photo: Courtesy of Anita Hugau

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

7February 7 – 13, 2011

BUSINESS FOCUS

DENMARK

Finnish firms planmore investment

TRADE and economic coopera-tion between Slovakia and Fin-land is not far-reaching but in-terest by Finnish companieshas been gradually increasingsince producing in Slovakia isseen as an important interme-diate step in several Finnishcompanies' exports.

“Established companieslater gradually ‘draw’ othercompanies to Slovakia, whichare attracted especially by ourqualified labour, advantage-ous geographical positionand the neighbouring mar-kets of central and easternEurope,” Dalibor Surový andJana Franeková from the for-eign direct investments sec-tion at the Slovak Investmentand Trade DevelopmentAgency (SARIO) wrote in ashort analysis prepared forThe Slovak Spectator.

According to Slovakia’sForeign Affairs Ministrythere are about 20 Finnishcompanies currently oper-ating in Slovakia with signi-ficant participation ofFinnish capital, as well asfive Finnish organisationalunits.

Surový and Franekováwrote that Finnish in-vestors are particularly act-ive in the electro-technicaland construction indus-tries, in processing metals,in telecommunicationsnetworks, and in miningand logistics systems.

Finnish investments ac-celerated between 2006 and2008 when companies likePeikko Group, Lindström,Ojala Yhtymä, YIT Redingand organisational units ofYIT-YIT Construction Ltd.Finland and Cramo-Technil-ine established operationsin Slovakia.

See RUUKKI pg 10

Some Finnish companies in Slovakia

Metsä Tissue, Žilina, www.metsatissue.com- a leading paper tissue supplier to households andlarge-scale consumers in EuropeRuukki Slovakia, Bratislava, www.ruukki.sk- a producer of metal components and integratedbuilding systemsTIKKURILA Slovakia, Martin-Priekopa,www.tikkurila.sk- sells Tikkurila paint company products in SlovakiaPeikko, Kráľová nad Váhom, www.peikko.sk- a family-owned company that pioneered a fasteningtechnology for concrete structuresLindström, Trnava, www.lindstrom.sk- one of Europe’s leading textile service companiesFinnforest Slovensko, Bratislava, www.finnforest.sk- Finnforest Corporation is one of the major globalcompanies in wood processing

Compiled by Spectator staff

Finnish institutions in Slovakia

Embassy of Finlandwww.finlandembassy.skAmbassador of Finland to Slovakia: Jukka Leino

Finland: General facts

Head of state: President Tarja HalonenForm of government: Parliamentary democracyCapital: HelsinkiTotal area: 338,424 square kilometresPopulation: 5.4 millionOfficial languages: Finnish (spoken by 91 percent ofpopulation), Swedish (5.4 percent). Sámi is the mothertongue of about 1,700 people who are descendants of theindigenous Sámi people of northern LaplandCurrency: euro

Source: www.finland.fi

Innovation as way of life

JUKKA Leino very muchhopes that the grand finale ofthe Ice Hockey World Cham-pionship on May 15 in Bratis-lava will feature a matchbetween Slovakia and hishomeland Finland. TheFinnish ambassador seesmany more bridges betweenthe two countries thanmerely ice hockey, saying, forexample, that Finland’sTurku, which is currently aEuropean capital of culture, issharing its experiences withKošice as it prepares to as-sume that title in 2013.

The Slovak Spectator spokewith Ambassador Leino aboutFinland’s ability to pursue in-novation as well as Finns' goodeye for design. Both are integ-ral parts of the Finnish style oflife as are high educationalachievement, concern for theenvironment and, of course,ice hockey.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):Last year, the Finnish par-liament approved construc-tion of two new nuclearpower plants. What is therole of nuclear energy in thecountry’s energy securityplan? Fossil fuels accountedfor more than half ofFinland’s energy use in 2009so how is the governmentaddressing this issue?

Jukka Leino (JL): Some 15years ago there was an anti-nuclear power movement inFinland but gradually the atti-tude has changed as Finlandhas been trying to diversify itsenergy resources. One of thearguments was: why shouldwe buy electricity generatedby nuclear plants in Russiawhen we can build our ownnuclear power plants? We nowhave two units in Olkiluotoand two in Loviisa, altogetherfour units, while one unit hasbeen under construction formany years. In summer 2010the government approved theconstruction of two moreunits. However, it might takemany years until these unitsare finished and they startproducing electricity. One ofour motivations was to reducegreenhouse gas emissions sothat energy production iscleaner. Of course, we havesome other sources of energysuch as woodchips, a bio-fuel;we are also using heat-pumpsand wind power and we aremaking plans to utilise windpower even more intensively.

TSS: Your embassy states inone of its introductory doc-

uments that Finns are verymuch intertwined withdesign and that it is part ofeveryday Finnish life. Whyis this?

JL: We are a design nationand our design work has a longhistory and a very strong tradi-tion within society. Why andhow? That’s a good question. Ithink it is part of the Nordic orScandinavian culture: all theScandinavian countries putemphasis on design. Design ispart of everyday life and it hasalways been so in Finland. Itpenetrates all the fields: glass,architecture, furniture, evensuch everyday things such asscissors; they’re all carefullydesigned. We just recently ex-hibited some examples ofFinnish design here in Bratis-lava at the Ministry of Culture,which hosted an exhibition ofFinnish glass. We tried tobring a glimpse of Finnishdesign to Slovakia. Indeed,Helsinki has been designatedthe world design capital in2012, which will be a very im-portant event.

TSS: Has the business poten-tial between Finland andSlovakia been fully ex-plored? Which areas are opento further cooperation?

JL: There are about 25Finnish companies in Slov-akia. These are mostly small ormedium-sized businesses butsome larger businesses as wellhave been considering comingto Slovakia. Nevertheless, thebusiness potential has notbeen fully used. We need to domore to make Slovakia knownin Finland and also to makeFinland better known here inSlovakia. Of course, the em-bassy cannot create economicactivities – but it can alwaystry to get the right people tocreate something, to initiateeconomic activities; we canhelp create the groundworkfor potential partners to meet.One of the fields which might

be interesting for Finnish-Slovak cooperation is in envir-onmental technologies. An-other aspect that links Slov-akia and Finland is forests andfor that reason production ofall kinds of forestry equipmentcould be interesting. The areaof renewable energies is alsoone of the fields offering a lotof potential for business. SinceSlovakia is interested in devel-oping a knowledge-based so-ciety, Finland – as a know-ledge-based, innovative soci-ety – can share its know-how.

TSS: Finland’s Turku, alongwith Tallinn in Estonia, be-came a European Capital ofCulture for 2011. What doyou expect this will bring toFinland? What experiencescan Finland share withSlovakia's Košice when itholds this title in 2013?

JL: Turku and Tallinn arethe European cultural capitalsfor this year. This is one of thebiggest cultural events ever inFinland. Turku is the old cap-ital of the country and in a wayit is the nest of cultural life inFinland. We are expectinghundreds of thousands of for-eign visitors and two millionparticipants for variousevents. There will be about 120big programmes but alsomany smaller ones and almostevery day will bring some kindof cultural surprise. SinceKošice will take over as a cul-tural capital in 2013, we havealready created a bridgebetween Košice and Turkuand there was a visitor fromthe Košice organisers whowas in touch with the organ-isers from Turku to share ex-periences. Turku’s message,after all, is that culture doesgood and it improveseveryone’s emotional andphysical well-being.

TSS: According to a news re-port, Finns have been rais-ing money for charity by los-

ing weight and the moneyhas gone to teachers’ educa-tion in Nepal. Why was theresuch a massive response toan initiative like this?

JL: Many Finns grew fatterbecause of an unhealthy lifestyle and unhealthy food. Butthere has been a shift in Fin-land. Finns are now more in-clined to switch from strongalcohol to wine or lighterdrinks while they are also be-ing advised to eat healthierfood, more fish and veget-ables. The idea you describedcame from a wealthy Finnishman who said that he wouldput €10 million on the tableand would pay €30 for eachkilo that Finns lost. Lots ofpeople went on a diet and al-most 15,000 people, 3,000 menand 12,000 women, joined theprogramme called Fat for Lit-eracy. The men lost 13,000kilos and the women 35,000kilos. The sum they were to bepaid for their weight loss wentto Nepal to train teachers whoteach students how to read. Itis true that the businessmanpromised €10 million and heonly had to send €1.4 million,but the Finnish people gothealthier and the Nepalesemore literate and it was defin-itely a win-win situation.

TSS: The European Commis-sion has again ranked Fin-land among the leading in-novators in the EU. How isFinland able to repeatedlyaccomplish this?

JL: It’s a basic require-ment. If you want to be a well-developed country, you mustinvest in research and innova-tion. So we have put a lot ofemphasis on these aspects.We have created a nationalinnovation strategy and thereis a special commission led bythe prime minister that isdealing with the innovationagenda. The strategy for2011-2015 has just been passed.An effective and high-leveleducation system, which in-spires people to use their tal-ents, to be creative and innov-ative, and even a bit crazy, arebehind this innovation policy.Students at a certain stage oftheir education have a chanceto show whether they havetalents, then they are suppor-ted and are given the oppor-tunity to continue their edu-cation in a way that buildstheir talents. What I wouldname as specific in theFinnish way of thinking isthat when something unex-pected happens, Finns canvery quickly create an altern-ative solution. We alwayshave a plan B.

See JL pg 11

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Ambassador Jukka Leino Photo: Jana Liptáková

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

8 February 7 – 13, 2011

BUSINESS FOCUS

FINLAND

Ambassador Anita Hugau and Roman Králik (right), head ofthe Kierkegaard Society in Slovakia. Photo: Courtesy of RK

AH: A perfect mixfor cooperation

Continued from pg 7

This is a perfect mix forcooperation between com-panies from our countries.With increasing purchasingpower in Slovakia it will alsobe easier to sell high-qualityDanish products.

TSS: Culture is one of thebest vehicles for commu-nicating values and build-ing bridges between coun-tries. What aspects of Slov-ak culture are or could be ofinterest to a Danish audi-ence and vice versa?

AH: The many pictur-esque towns with historicalsquares and centres, in somecases combined with mediev-al castles, are among some ofthe main cultural attractionsin Slovakia. Also, the moun-tainous areas with the manyhiking paths in beautiful nat-ural settings offer an attract-ive alternative to the ratherflat geography of Denmark. Inrecent years we have noticedthat a cruise on the Danubebetween Vienna and Bratis-lava is becoming increasinglypopular for city goers amongthe Danish audience.

Denmark offers thou-sands of kilometres of at-tractive sandy beaches to anaudience from a landlockedcountry like Slovakia. On av-erage, no Dane is more than50 kilometres from theocean. The sea is so cleanthat it is even possible toswim in the harbour in thecentre of Copenhagen, whereseveral areas have been es-pecially prepared for swim-ming. Add to this 12,000kilometres of biking routes,which are safe for childrenand ideal for family holidays.

In terms of cultural activ-ities in Slovakia, I am verypleased to see that stories ofthe Danish fairytale writerHans Christian Andersen aredear to so many Slovaks. Ithas impressed me that threedifferent theatres in Bratis-lava are staging different in-terpretations of the SnowQueen this winter.

I am equally pleased tosee that many film festivalsin Slovakia are screeningmovies by contemporaryDanish filmmakers. The up-coming Nordfest Film Fest-ival in Kino Nostalgia fromFebruary 11 till March 2 is,based on the interest of theSlovak audience last year, agood example.

In terms of cultural activ-ities, the Embassy of Den-mark in general strives tosupport events that caneither generate or maintainawareness about Danish cul-ture among the Slovak audi-ence: the annual film fest-ivals, Danish artists visitingSlovakia, etc. Efforts are be-ing made to support an openand varied programme forthe benefit of as many peopleas possible in Slovakia.

TSS: In 2007, theKierkegaard Society inSlovakia was established inthe town of Šaľa. What dosuch societies mean for co-operation between nations?

AH: Shortly after my ar-rival in Slovakia in Septem-ber 2010 I was invited to Šaľato an international confer-ence on the Danish philo-sopher Soren AabyKierkegaard, and I was verypleased to experience the en-thusiasm for Kierkegaardamong the Kierkegaard Soci-ety in Slovakia.

From my postings asambassador to other parts ofthe world I know that issuesaddressed by Kierkegaardhave an international ap-peal, which can connect so-cieties and nations. The con-ference was a clear illustra-tion of this, as participantsfrom as far as the Americasgathered for two days dis-cussing the issue of ethics –the theme of the conference.At the expert level, the in-terest in Kierkegaard hasalso generated an interest inthe Danish language as someexperts have found it at-tractive to study the originalDanish texts written byKierkegaard.

OSLO: Royal visit boosted knowledgeContinued from pg 6

The priority sectors agreedupon by the two countries forgrants over the next five yearsare environmental protectionand management, climatechange and renewable energy,carbon capture and storage,research and scholarship, pro-tecting cultural heritage, andpromotion of decent work andtripartite dialogue, Stahl toldThe Slovak Spectator.

“These priority sectorscorrespond with priority areasof both the Slovak and theNorwegian governments andsome are sectors where Nor-way is in the lead,” said Stahl.“This gives prospects for fur-ther cooperation between thetwo countries. The businessseminar held in connectionwith the Norwegian state visitto Slovakia in October 2010had corporate social respons-ibility [CSR] as the main topicand this is also an area for fur-ther cooperation.”

When King Harald andQueen Sonja of Norway visitedSlovakia last October theywere accompanied by a largedelegation of representativesfrom Norwegian businessesand other institutions. Stahlbelieves this was a clear indic-ation of significant interestamong Norwegians in doingbusiness in Slovakia. In addi-tion to the main topic of CSR,meetings were held to discusspossible cooperation on re-newable energy sources as wellas tunnel building, defenceand mapping technologies.

Stahl believes that eventhough both the Norwegianand the Slovak economies wereaffected by the economic crisis,businesses in both countriesseem to be recovering.

“When considering Slov-akia as an area for invest-

ments, the country’s uniqueposition in central Europe, itsstability, and well-educatedworkforce are the mainfactors that are assessed,” saidStahl. “Some Norwegian com-panies established in Slovakiaare in the process of expand-ing or are considering doingso. There are also signals thatmore Norwegian companiesare considering Slovakia as aninteresting market.”

There are around a dozenNorwegian companies withoperations in Slovakia with atotal of about 2,500 employees.The biggest of these are:Kongsberg Automotive, loc-ated in Vráble, which servesthe automotive industry; Slov-alco which produces alumini-um in Žiar nad Hronom and ismajority-owned by Norsk Hy-dro; Sapa Profily, also in Žiarnad Hronom, which producesaluminium profiles; EltekValere in Liptovský Hrádok,producing energy systems for

telecoms; Blomquist Truckingin Žiar nad Hronom; andTimms, a manufacturer ofrope, in Trenčín.

“Norwegian businessmenare generally assessing in-vestment conditions in Slov-akia at a good level,” saidNemesová. “Most establishedcompanies have not had anysignificant problems and havenot encountered any businessobstacles. However, some ofthem have pointed out a cer-tain level of corruption.”

Stahl agreed with thatstatement and added that, likeother international compan-ies, Norwegian firms are con-cerned that the investmentenvironment in Slovakia isnegatively tainted with cor-ruption and with an uncertainsituation in the judiciary.

“The fact that the newSlovak government has put thefight against corruption andimproving the situation in thejudiciary on the top of their

political agenda is consideredpositive and we are lookingforward to seeing the results ofthis work,” said Stahl.

Slovakia seeksNorwegian firms

Slovakia already has verywell-established relations andwell-developed cooperationwith Norwegian investors,SARIO said, adding that it hasorganised many activitieswith the aim of intensifyingtrade and investment cooper-ation between the two coun-tries. SARIO highlighted theNorwegian-Slovak Commer-cial Forum held in Oslo inJune last year that was organ-ised by the Slovak Embassy inNorway and the German-Norwegian Chamber of Com-merce of Oslo which focusedon supporting Slovak productsin Norway and simultan-eously drawing more Norwe-gian investments to Slovakia.It was followed by a Norwegi-an business mission visitingPrešov on November 25, or-ganised by the Prešov Self-Governing Region and theSlovak Embassy in Norway.

During the Norwegianroyal visit in October, SARIOpresented Slovakia as an idealdestination for foreign in-vestors at an event held inBratislava called Get Togetherthat was organised bySARIO’s counterpart, Innova-tion Norway.

SARIO does not have anyspecific activities focused onNorway in its current pipelinebut it is considering futureevents in Nordic countries.

“SARIO will also continueto actively strengthen mutualcooperation between the twocountries in the future,”Nemesová told The SlovakSpectator.

King Harald V and Queen Sonja visiting Slovakia. Photo: ČTK

9BUSINESS FOCUS February 7 – 13, 2011

DANES: Investments in eastern SlovakiaContinued from pg 7

The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministryhas estimated that the aggregate directinvestment by Danish firms in Slovakiaat the end of 2009 was about €155 million,coming via approximately 60 companies.

Danish companies are welcomed asinvestors in Slovakia particularly becausethey have diversified their investmentsacross the country and have not onlyconcentrated in western Slovakia. Un-omedical in Michalovce, Tytex inHumenné, Gluz & Jensen in Prešov,Knudsen Plast in Vranov nad Topľou, andBlika in Trebišov are examples of invest-ments in eastern regions of Slovakia.Nemesová also stressed that this Danishdiversification is not only geographic butalso in terms of product types.

Nemesová listed the most importantDanish investments in Slovakia as fo-cused in the machine and furniture in-dustries, environmentally-friendly col-lection and disposal of waste, plasticsprocessing, and development of ecologic-al farming methods.

Velux completed the first phase ofconstruction of its plant for productionof roof windows and other componentsin Partizánske in 2009 and under thename Partizánske Building Componentshas become the biggest Danish investor

in Slovakia. Other important companieswith Danish capital operating in Slov-akia include Danfoss, which makes elec-tric engines, and Danfoss Compressorsmaking compressors, both in ZlatéMoravce; Marius Pedersen in Trenčínwhich collects and disposes of waste;Dan-Slovakia Agrar in Veľký Meder, act-ive in agriculture; Icopal in Štúrovowhich produces insulation materials;and Ecco Slovakia, a name-brand foot-wear manufacturer in Martin.

SARIO assisted in 20 completed in-vestment projects originating in Den-mark between 2002 and 2010 and thesecreated almost 3,000 jobs. Nemesová saidthe main factors motivating Danishbusinesses when deciding about theirinvestments are stable economic andpolitical conditions, a highly-qualifiedand motivated labour force, the quality ofinfrastructure and the country’s geo-graphic location.

“A positive signal from the side of es-tablished Danish companies is also thefact that many of these companies arenow planning an expansion,” saidNemesová. “Most investments have goneinto the textile, chemical and wood-pro-cessing industries. There were also someinvestments into the machine and auto-motive industries as well as the servicesector and other industrial segments.”

With regards to the interest of Dan-ish businesses in investing in Slovakiaand the impacts of the global financialand economic crisis, Anita Hugau, theDanish ambassador to Slovakia, told TheSlovak Spectator that Danish companies,which for the most part are small andmedium-sized, have become more re-luctant to directly invest and prefer thepossibility of outsourcing.

“However, we have noted the interestof a Danish company deciding to build orinvest in a manufacturing unit inSlovakia,” Ambassador Hugau told TheSlovak Spectator.

Danish companies perceive certainconditions within the Slovak businessenvironment as bureaucratic and withlarger administrative burdens in compar-ison with Danish standards for foreigndirect investment, the ambassador said.

“For instance, labour legislation [inSlovakia] is very disadvantageous foremployers compared to Denmark. Wealso pay attention to corruption andproblems within the judiciary,” shestated, adding that “I am impressed bythe intentions of the present coalitiongovernment of Iveta Radičová. But wehave to say that changing laws alonedoes not make it – it will not be enough.What is needed is simply a change in themindset of Slovak society.”

TS: Bjornson stillinspires us todayContinued from pg 6

TSS: What do you considerthe most important out-come of the royal couple’svisit to Slovakia?

TS: What royal visits dois create opportunity andopen the ground for Nor-wegian businesses to get toknow Slovakia and viceversa, for Slovak businessesto get to know our busi-nesses.

Then it is up to themwhether something comesout of these commercial con-tacts. As for the royalcouple’s impressions, theywere very impressed withwhat they saw. When I waspacking for Christmas andwatching Norwegian televi-sion I realised that I hadnever before heard so muchinformation about Slovakiaon a Norwegian channel.

His Majesty also men-tioned his trip to Slovakiain his New Year’s speech aswell as mentioning the im-portance of Bjornson forthe country.

A memorandum of un-derstanding was alsosigned during the visit todefine priorities for the useof EEA/Norway grants forthe upcoming period: cli-mate change, flood preven-tion, domestic violence,

and continuing to preservecultural heritage are amongthe priorities. We will alsocontinue our scholarshipprogramme and maintaincooperation over cross-bor-der issues.

TSS: Tell us about Bjorn-stjerne Martinius Bjornsonand what he has meant torelations between Norwayand Slovakia?

TS: Bjornson was a NobelPrize laureate in literatureand also a political activistand part of his activism 100years ago was advocacy forSlovaks’ right to their ownidentity, language and cul-ture. He fought for nations’right to self-identity andwhat he stood for back thenshould inspire us eventoday. There is a Norwegianword to describe him:buldrebasse – meaning a bigman with an impressivecharacter and when he star-ted speaking people werecompelled to listen.

As he was a well-knownwriter he used this platformto advocate his politicalwork. He and his personalityresonated stronglythroughout the royal visitand I think that even peoplein Norway rediscoveredsome aspects of his remark-able life’s work.

RUUKKI: Firmplans expansionContinued from pg 8

Surový and Franekoválisted among the most im-portant Finnish companiesoperating in Slovakia CramoSK, Alfaram, Finnforest Slov-ensko, Ixonos Slovakia,Metsa Tissue Slovakia -Tento, Nokia Slovakia,Ramirent - OTS Bratislava,Ruukki Slovakia, Terichem,Vitabalans SK, Itella Inform-ation, Lindström, UnitersSlovakia, GMV Invest, UPM-Kymmene Slovakia, Schet-elig CE and others.

With regards to burdensthat Finnish investors facewhen developing their busi-ness activities in Slovakia,Surový and Franeková wrotethat Finnish investors per-ceive the two countries ashaving very similar condi-tions for doing business butthat Finns expressed con-cerns about time-consumingbureaucracy as well as limit-ations among the labourforce because of the smallsize of the Slovak market.

New projects announced

In January Ruukki an-nounced expansion plans forits plant in Holíč. It plans tostart operation of a newautomated surface treat-ment line during the first

quarter of 2012, the SITAnewswire wrote. The €6-mil-lion project is now in a pre-paratory phase.

“Installation of theautomatic varnishing line isan important part of thecompany’s strategy in theregion of central and east-ern Europe,” said JozefMišurec, the director ofRuukki Slovakia. “It will ex-tend the production oppor-tunities of our company in afundamental way.”

Ruukki, which suppliesmetal-based components,systems and integrated sys-tems to the construction andengineering industries, star-ted producing cabins in Holičearlier last year.

Trade statistics

The Slovak-Finnishtrade balance is positive forSlovakia.

According to preliminarydata from Slovakia’s Statist-ics Office, goods worth €36.4million were imported fromFinland between Januaryand October 2010, making up0.1 percent of Slovakia’s totalimports.

Exports to Finlandamounted to €104.7 millionand 0.3 percent of Slovakia’stotal exports during thesame period.

Northern culturalblizzard to hit Bratislava

FROSTS and snowfalls are ex-pected to last well into earlyspring in Slovakia, particularlyin the vicinity of cinemas, gal-leries and other cultural ven-ues, and this particular blizzardof culture will be especially ap-preciated by enthusiasts andsponsors of Nordic culture.

The first culturalsnowstorm to hit Bratislava inthe upcoming days will beNordfest, the annual film fest-ival showcasing the best of cur-rent Scandinavian cinema. Or-ganised by the Stoptime agencyand supported by the Finnish,Norwegian and Danish em-bassies in Slovakia, the eventwill start on February 11 andcontinue through March 2.

As many as 16 movies in allwill be screened at the Nostal-gia Film Club, one of the mostpopular art-house cinemas inthe country.

These include four Slovakpre-premieres, including ASomewhat Gentle Man, a 2010Norwegian comedy directed byHans Petter Moland that wasnominated for a Golden Bear atthe 60th Berlinale, and Reyk-javik Whale Watching Mas-sacre, Icelandic director JúlíusKemp’s 2009 horror film about agroup of shipwrecked whalewatchers.

Cinemagoers can also lookforward to seeing the award-winning Videocracy by Swedish-Italian Erik Gandini about SilvioBerlusconi’s hold on the Italianmedia as well as DanielAlfredson’s renderings of twoparts of the bestselling SwedishMillennium Trilogy, and Mam-moth, by acclaimed Swedish dir-ector Lukas Moodysson.

While their themes andgenres are varied, the moviespresented at Nordfest this yearshare many features, saidcinema theorist Peter Gavalier,who has been in charge of thefestival’s programme.

“Scandinavian cinema oftenaddresses the issue of humanisolation in the modern world,which is also the case of mostpieces we have chosen for thisedition,” he told The SlovakSpectator.

As Gavalier further ex-plained, contemporary Nordiccinema occupies a very particu-lar position within theEuropean film scene.

“It is characterised by anauthentic, far-from-trivial, yetaccessible style, able to exploreuniversal themes through awide variety of genres,” he said.

Lenka Krajčíková, market-ing manager at Stoptime, ad-ded that though Nordic filmsare rather complex and there-fore popular mainly amongfilm connoisseurs, the com-mon stereotype that they areall sad and gloomy is not to betrusted.

“Scandinavians do have agreat sense of humour, partic-ularly at unexpectedmoments,” she remarked.“And Slovaks obviously appre-ciate the atmosphere of Nordicmovies, as the turnout at theprevious editions of Nordfestwas always very high.”

Indeed, more than 2,200people attended the festival in2010, with some screeningshaving drawn more than 300viewers.

Krajčíková said she hopedthat the upcoming fourth edi-tion, which features six morefilms than the previous one,will be even more successful.

“Nothing encourages usmore than seeing a fullycrowded cinema,” she stated.

Agenda looks promising

It seems that this enthusi-asm for Nordic culture is not ashort-term fluctuation of cli-mate: cultural programmesfocused on Scandinavia havebeen multiplying andeverything suggests they willcontinue to do so.

Torgal Stahl, first secret-ary at the Norwegian Embassyin Bratislava, said that Norwayhas been trying to increase thepresence of his country’s cul-ture in Slovakia.

It was with this aim inmind that the embassy re-cently prepared, for example, aseries of events in 2010 tocommemorate the centennialof the death of BjornstjerneBjornson, a famous Nobel Prizewinning writer and politicalactivist as well as two per-formances by Jan Garbarek, aworld-famous jazz musician.

However, the highlight in2010 was undoubtedly theNorwegian royal state visit toSlovakia, said Stahl.

“Their Majesties and thepresidential couple attendedseveral cultural events, in-cluding the opening of an ex-

hibition about Bjornson,” hetold The Slovak Spectator.

Other major events in-cluded a Norwegian-Slovak artworkshop in Banská Štiavnicaand Norway’s participation inSlovakia’s 2010 Socha a objekt(Sculpture and Object) exhibi-tion.

“Norway was actually theprincipal exhibitor, with 13Norwegian authors showingtheir works in Bratislava,”Stahl stated.

In the upcoming period,the embassy is planning tofoster co-operation betweenSlovakia’s ÚĽUV folklore mu-seum and its Norwegian coun-terpart, with a special focus ontraditional costumes. In addi-tion, more artists will be in-vited to take part in the nextedition of Sculpture and Objectto be held in July and August,and further projects aboutBjornson might be developed.

Finally, the end of 2011 willbe marked by an exhibition onNorwegian arts and crafts thatwill take place in Bratislava.

Aleksi Vakkuri, counsellorand deputy head of mission atthe Embassy of Finland, saidthat the Finnish diplomaticbureau also tries “to promoteand facilitate cultural co-oper-ation between Finland andSlovakia in any way we can”,adding that due to limited re-sources, the Finnish embassyprimarily supports existinginitiatives.

Thus, in the past fewmonths, the Finnish embassyhas, among other things, sup-ported the One World interna-tional documentary film fest-ival, the Inakosť (Otherness)gay and lesbian film festival,the New Drama theatre festiv-al, and the International Fest-ival of New Puppet Theatre forChildren and Adults.

Vakkuri said that one ofthe events that enjoyed thebiggest success last year wasan exhibition entitled “Fireand Ice: the Finnish GlassDesign Made in Murano”.

Co-organised with theSlovak Ministry of Culture, theexhibition featured designitems obtained from theFinnish Glass Museum as wellas from private collections,and “turned out to be very

popular and drew manyvisitors”, the counsellor re-marked.

In the next few months,the embassy will focus its at-tention on the forthcomingIce Hockey World Champion-ship and its side events,Vakkuri added.

“Naturally, we will notneglect other cultural pro-grammes, but let us hope thatthe biggest Finnish-Slovakevent in 2011 will be the onescheduled on Sunday, May 15[the gold medal game],” hesomewhat jokingly told TheSlovak Spectator.

In the meantime, those in-terested can, for instance, ad-mire Finnish landscapes asseen by the Austrian photo-grapher Gerlinde Miesenböck.Her large-scale photographsare being showcased atBratislava’s Central EuropeanHouse of Photography untilFebruary 27.

Informal links thrive, too

But diplomats are not alonein fostering contacts betweenSlovaks and the peoples ofScandinavia; informal net-works have emerged as well.

A good example is theKierkegaard Society in Slov-akia, established in 2007 byRoman Králik, an associateprofessor and philosopher, tohonour the famous Danishphilosopher’s legacy.

Over the course of its shortexistence, the Kierkegaard So-ciety, based in the westernSlovak town of Šaľa, has co-operated with some of theworld’s most prestigious re-search centres and colleges,including the University ofToronto, Baylor Universityand the American Academy ofReligion, and regularly co-or-ganises international confer-ences on Soren Kierkegaard’sphilosophy.

Moreover, Králik startedthe project called ActaKierkegaardiana, the aim ofwhich is to produce a ten-volume series of studies deal-ing with Kierkegaard’s philo-sophical thought. So far, fourvolumes have been publishedas part of the project.

“Our international successis both a commitment and amotivation for our futureactivities,” Králik told TheSlovak Spectator, adding thatin 2011 alone, four new bookson Kierkegaard will be pub-lished by his organisation.

“I was delighted to see howdevoted Mr Králik and his teamare to Kierkegaard’s work, and Iwill certainly support theirpublication plans,” AnitaHugau, the new Danish am-bassador to Slovakia, said dur-ing a visit to Šaľa.

To read an extendedversion of this article,

please visit www.spectator.sk

BY DOMINIKAUHRÍKOVÁ

Spectator staff

Gael García Bernal in Mammoth. Photo: Courtesy of Stoptime

10 BUSINESS FOCUSFebruary 7 – 13, 2011

2011 calendar isfull of Nordic

events

JL: Looking forward to hockey matchesContinued from pg 8

TSS: Is the Ice Hockey WorldChampionship a chance topromote some tourism linksbetween Slovakia and Fin-land?

JL: We are very muchlooking forward to April andMay. I have heard that thetickets for Bratislava arealready sold out and thesewere bought first by Slovaks,then Czechs and thirdly byFinns. We indeed are expect-ing hundreds, maybe thou-sands of tourists from Finlandto follow the matches and Ihope that on May 15 the finalmatch will be between Fin-land and Slovakia.

As for tourism, I have seenmore Finnish tourists coming

to Slovakia and their aware-ness of Slovakia as a touristdestination is stronger. TheSlovak embassy organised aSlovak tourism day in Hel-sinki and it was immenselypopular. What might attractthe Finns? It’s of course thehistory, the cultural heritageof the region and the moun-tains. Bratislava’s Old Town isa piece of art. And when Finnscome to Vienna or Budapestthey need to be told that Brat-islava is close by too. When Iask Slovaks who have alreadyvisited Finland why theypicked the country, they tellme that their trip focused onthe whole of Scandinavia, in-cluding also Denmark andSweden and that they took aboat from Stockholm to Hel-

sinki or Turku. We have a lotof natural beauty to offerwhile Helsinki is a rich cul-tural capital.

TSS: Culture does work asone of the best bridgesbetween countries. Whatare the most notable cultur-al projects organised or sup-ported by your embassy thathave helped Slovaks to bet-ter understand Finland?

JL: The annual theatrefestival in Bratislava was de-voted to Finnish theatre,which was a big challenge. Inall fields of culture you haveseveral levels of challengeswhen you bring in foreignart, but theatre is maybe oneof the most challengingforms of culture to offer, with

a different language and dif-ferent culture.

The event was a big suc-cess and I think we created alot of connections with theSlovak theatre community.

In Finland we had an ex-hibition of Slovak glass designand at the end of last year wehad an exhibition of Finnishglass design by two very fam-ous Finnish designers here inBratislava. Then we also havea very interesting phe-nomenon: four or five Finnishsingers are studying and hav-ing their master courses un-der Slovak Professor EvaBlahová. She travels regularlyto Finland and to Turku andwe organised a big concerthere last year where the stu-dents performed.

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February 7 – 13, 2011

PROFIT: Reserves for bad loans are cutContinued from pg 1

The banking sector increased its2010 taxed profit levels by 105 percent,or by €263.7 million compared with2009 and profits even exceeded thelevel of €508.6 million reached in 2008.However, the sector’s profits stilllagged behind those recorded for 2006and 2007, at €590 million and €575.2million respectively, the NBS reported.

Laznia cited improvement in eco-nomic conditions in 2010 as being re-sponsible for the first increase inbanks’ profitability over the past fouryears, pointing specifically to two im-portant factors: an increase in newloans, particularly among households,and fewer failed or failing loans.

Laznia said the volume of newhousing loans grew by almost 43 per-cent in 2010, exceeding the volume ofhousing loans in the pre-crisis year of2008, and that similar-volume in-creases were registered for other con-sumer loans which also surpassed thelevels of 2008. The volume of new cor-porate loans also increased in 2010, byalmost 20 percent.

The second factor that positively af-fected the 2010 results was a reductionin the number of failed or failing loanswhich was reflected in banks loweringtheir reserves for bad or non-perform-ing loans, Laznia said. NBS reportedbanks’ reserves for bad loans decreasedby 19.7 percent, or €93 million, in 2010.

Net fees and commission income,which increased by 1.5 percent, or €46million, in 2010 to a level of €450 million,as well as a 3-percent reduction in operat-ing costs also contributed to the banks’better profitability.

The NBS reported that its prelimin-ary figures showed that net interest in-come in 2010 reached €1.68 billion, up 7.5percent, or €117 million, from the previ-ous year due to the growth in the volumeof loans.

Slovakia’s largest bank, SlovenskáSporiteľňa (SLSP), a member of the ErsteGroup, registered growth last year and ithas estimated that its better revenuesand lower costs will be reflected indouble-digit growth in operating profit.

“With regards to the decrease in costsof risk, the positive trend reported overthe first nine months of 2010 should alsobe mirrored in the full-year results,” saidŠtefan Máj, the deputy chairman ofSLSP’s board of directors, as cited by theSITA newswire.

Slovenská Sporiteľňa’s consolidatedtaxed profit for the first nine months of2010 was €95 million, an increase of 138percent from the same period in 2009.

Another major bank operating inSlovakia, VÚB, a member of the IntesaSanpaolo international banking group, isalso optimistic about 2010, expecting itstaxed profit to reach around €150 mil-lion. But this would represent only amoderate increase of 3 percent comparedwith 2009, the SITA newswire wrote inearly January.

Róbert Kubinský, the director ofVÚB’s department for planning and con-trolling told SITA it was possible to detecta certain revival in the Slovak economy in2010 that was reflected in a notable in-crease in deposits as well as loans.

“Interest income and fees paid to thebank increased hand-in-hand,” Kubinskýsaid. “Since we simultaneously managedto decrease operating costs as well as thecosts of risk compared with 2009, growthin profit is only a logical outcome of this.”

Kubinský added that the worldeconomic crisis highlighted even morethe necessity for banks to do businessin an effective, responsible and trans-parent way.

Slovak banks did well in 2010. Photo: Sme

A spinner from Spiš

AS LATE as the 1950s in some regions ofSlovakia you could still see women spinningtextiles, as shown in this postcard. The ladyis married (as she wears a headscarf) andcomes from the municipality of Plavnica, inthe Šariš region.

Spinning meant making thread bytwisting several thinner strands together.They were then used for lace, for stitchingand for sewing. According to tradition,women went to “spinning parties” fromNovember 1 until the Carnival, or Shrove,period called fašiangy in Slovak. Womenspun together and thus “spinning parties”were considered a social occasion. Usually,women and girls gathered to do this work,segregated from men. Girls tended to takepart from the age of 14 or 15; they were thusalso considered adults from this age.

For the girls, these parties were a goodchance to meet boys. For two days in theweek, on Tuesdays and on Thursdays,young men were allowed to come andwatch the girls. During these meetings,they often played games with romanticovertones. Later in the evenings, the com-pany usually danced and sometimes theyouths even slept in the house that hostedthe spinning parties. Predictably, religious

as well as civil authorities tried to prohibitthese meetings from the 16th till the 19thcentury.

This postcard dates from the 1940s.By Branislav Chovan

HISTORY TALKS

WesternSLOVAKIA

Bratislaval THAI BOXING: HanumanCup 7 – A professional Thaiboxing competition organisedby the Hanuman Gym and theBratislava Club of Thai Boxing.

Starts: February 13, 17:00;DK Zrkadlový háj, Rovni-ankova 3. Admission: €10. Tel:02/6383-6764; www.kzp.sk.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: Moyze-sovci v galérii - The MoyzesQuartet give their first con-certs from the cycle Music andPaintings in the Slovak Na-tional Gallery, this time play-ing Posledné kvartetá / TheLast Quartets, the final stringquartets: The Fourth StringQuartet in B Major by J. L.Bella, the Third Quartet in BMajor by J. Brahms, as well asthe Quintet for Clarinet andTwo Violins, Viola and Cello byC. M. von Weber.

Starts: February 8, 19:00;Vodné kasárne / Water Bar-racks, SNG, Rázusovo nábrežie2. Admission: €5. Tel: 02/2047-5233; www.filharm.sk.

Bratislaval ICE HOCKEY: Slovakia Cup –This ice hockey tournament, adress-rehearsal for the WorldChampionship being heldlater in Bratislava and Košice,will see the national teams ofBelarus, Switzerland, Ger-many and Slovakia face offagainst each other in fourmatches over two days.

Starts: February 11-12,13:00 and 17:00; renovated O.Nepela winter sports stadium.Admission: €15 for bothmatches on each of the days.Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticket-portal.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: Grand prixarchitektů 2010 – An exhibi-tion showing not just the win-ners of the Czech ArchitecturePrize for 2010, chosen by an in-ternational jury, but all 71works that were entered for it.

Open: Mon-Fri 10:00-16:00until February 13; Design Fac-tory, Bottova 2. Admission:free. Tel: 02/5020-1717; www.designfactory.sk.

Bratislava-Vajnoryl EXHIBITION: 15 rokov galérie

Typo & Ars – 15 Years of theTypo & Ars Gallery – This gal-lery celebrates its first 15 yearsby showing a review of worksby its founders: Viera Čepcová– jewels; and Peter Čepec – oilpaintings and enamels.

Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00(but please call ahead to ar-range a visit) until February20; Typo & Ars, Roľnícka 349.Admission: free. Tel: 0903/477-074; www.typoars.sk.

Nitral EXHIBITION: Ver mi, niedvermi! - Viliam Slaminka –This young Slovak artist, whograduated from the Academyof Fine Arts in 2010, draws in-spiration from comic strips,pop culture and movies.

Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00until March 20; Galéria mla-dých - Nitrianska galéria,Župné námestie 3. Admission:€0.50-€0.70. Tel: 037/6579-641-3; www.nitrianska-galeria.sk.

Central SLOVAKIA

Banská Bystrical LIVE MUSIC: Inekafe Tour2011 – The first tour throughclubs after six years by thispopular Slovak band stemsfrom a single concert that

turned into an enormous suc-cess.

Starts: February 8, 20:00;Spoločenská sála of the Eu-ropa Cultural Centre, Nám.Slobody 3. Admission: €15. Tel:02/5293-3321; www.ticket-portal.sk.

Rimavská Sobotal EXHIBITION: Súčasní ar-chitekti z Rimavskej Soboty /Contemporary Architectsfrom Rimavská Sobota – Thisexhibition offers a selection ofworks by five young local nat-ives: E. Klaubert, M. Kolár, J.Várady, J. Fazekašová and K.Szabó. Their hometown is thepoint of origin and joiningpoint for all of them.

Open: Mon-Sat 9:00-17:00until February 28; Mestskágaléria, Hlavné námestie 5.Admission: €0.70. Tel: 047/5624-351; www.warhol.sk/mgrs.

Eastern SLOVAKIA

Popradl EXHIBITION: Ako to v zimedakedy bolo / How it OnceUsed to Be in Winter – This ex-hibition documents formerworking habits in winter, thetraditions of the “Witches’Days” and also presents folk-lore clothing.

Open: Tue-Fri 9:00-16:00,Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00 until Feb-ruary 20; Podtatranské mú-zeum, Vajanského 72/4. Ad-mission: €1-€2. Tel: 052/7721-874; www.muzeumpp.sk.

Kežmarokl EXHIBITION: Dotyk anjela /The Touch of an Angel - EvaMišáková-Ábelová – Thecatchy title of this exhibitionstems from a painting of thesame name by Mišáková-Ábelová, who presents herworks for the second time inthis gallery. Since then, shehas enhanced her originalthemes, techniques andchoice of colour.

Open: Tue-Fri 12:00-18:00,Sat 10:00-13:00 until February17; galéria U anjela, Starý trh53. Admission: free. Tel:052/4522-153; www.galeria-unajela.sk.

By Zuzana Vilikovská

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

THE 2. REPREZENTAČNÝ ple(b)s na bitúnku / 2nd Representat-ive Ball (Plebs) at the Slaughterhouse is a masquerade ball by theElledanse dance theatre and school. The programme includesZlatý meniskus dance united, Credance, elledanse, Hot marin-ades acrobats and much more. It takes place on Friday, February11, at 20:00 in the T & D House in Miletičova 17/B in Bratislava, for€9.90. For more information, please visit www.elledanse.sk.

Photo: Courtesy of Elledanse

IN THE Czech Centre in Rázusova 13 in Košice, the exhibitionČeská republika - rozprávková krajina hradov a zámkov / TheCzech Republic - Fairytale Country of Castles and Mansions of-fers models of the most famous Czech castles complete with aphotographic exhibition of the monuments recorded on theUNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. Until February 18, visitorscan admire the exhibits for free on Mondays through Thursdaysfrom 8:30 to 12:00 and from 13:30 to 16:30, and on Fridays from8:30 to 13:00. For more information, please call 055/6231-801-2,or visit www.czechcentres.cz/kosice. Photo: TASR

12 CULTUREFebruary 7 – 13, 2011

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Anna Netrebko

ErwinSchrott

Organizers: Slovak National Theatrein cooperation with the organizer of Crystal Wing

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Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakiacan now be found at www.spectator.sk.

A Slovak’s name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift, such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)

N A M E D A Y F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1

Monday

Vanda

February 7

Tuesday

ZojaLejla

February 8

Wednesday

Zdenko

February 9

Thursday

Gabriela

February 10

Friday

Dezider

February 11

Saturday

Perla

February 12

Sunday

Arpád

February 13