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Solar power investigated

WHAT started as a good idea of using


more renewable energy resources in
Slovakia is nowevolving into charges of
corruption and fraud in the construc-
tion of photovoltaic power stations. In-
spections conducted by the Regulatory
Office for Network Industries (RSO)
have found that some newly-construc-
ted power stations might not have
really qualified for the generous feed-in
tariffs they receive, Slovakias method
of subsidising the use of the solar en-
ergy for electricity generation. The
Slovak Association of Photovoltaic In-
dustry responded by condemning what
it called the failure of certain individu-
als but cautioned against generalising
about the entire solar power sector.
RSO filed a complaint with the
General Prosecutor's Office on August 3
asking for an investigation of some loc-
al government construction offices
which had issued approvals without
the necessary documents required to
launcha photovoltaic power station.
SeeSUNpg4
SELECT FOREX RATES
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NEWS
Evictions risetensions
Five Roma families were
evicted fromtheir muni-
cipally-owned homes on
July 28 inthe easternSlov-
ak municipality of ierna
nad Tisouamid rising ten-
sions.
pg 2
Slovakiagrieves
The tragic extremist attacks
inNorway onJuly 22 received
widespread response inSlov-
akia not only because of the
dimensionof the tragedy but
also the country's mentionin
the murderer's manifesto.
pg 3
OPINION
TheCursedChair
The Cursed Chair could be
the catchy title for the
main-stage political melo-
drama continuing to un-
fold: who will occupy
Slovakia's general
prosecutors chair.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Gayrights matter
The Slovak Spectator spoke
withDutchAmbassador
Daphne Bergsma about pro-
tecting minority rights, en-
ergy security, the import-
ance of remembering the
Holocaust and a host of
other issues.
pg 6
'Marriagederaison'
The Slovak Spectator
asked BelgianAmbassador
Walter Lionabout the be-
nefits and challenges of
living ina multi-lingual
country and the role of re-
gional alliances suchas
Benelux and the Visegrad
Four.
pg 7
CULTURE
Urbanspaces mapped
Dutchphotographer Illah
vanOijenkeeps onmap-
ping the character of public
spaces inSlovakia.
pg 11
Inthe days after the tragedy inNorway, Slovaks lit candles infront of the Norwegianembassy inBratislava, voiced
their sorrowonsocial networkingsites andwore Norwegiannational symbols insolidarity. Photo: Sme- V. imek
Drama around top
prosecutor continues
JUST when it seemed that the only
hurdle in Jozef ents path to be-
come the countrys next prosecutor
general was the reluctance of Slovak
President Ivan Gaparovi to offi-
cially appoint him, the winning can-
didate of the ruling coalition from a
secret ballot held in July, has never-
theless created some new complica-
tions on his own. Though ent
called the shredding of a document
in his possession a human error, the
careless blunder has added some
strong wind to the sails of his oppon-
ents.
Last month Dobroslav Trnka ar-
gued that his basic right for equal ac-
cess to be re-elected as general pro-
secutor had been violated and he
sought redress from the Constitu-
tional Court. Trnka said the results of
the May 17 vote were calculated in-
correctly and that parliament should
have declared him the winner and
submitted a proposal to the president
for his re-appointment to the post.
In the May 17 vote, Trnka won
the support of 70 of the 150 present
MPs, 17 voted against him, 29 ab-
stained from the vote and there
were 34 invalid votes. The results
also meant that Iveta Radiov re-
mained as prime minister since be-
fore the vote she had expressed
strong opposition to Trnkas re-elec-
tion and went so far as to promise
that she wouldresignif it happened.
Trnka, who submitted his com-
plaint to the court on July 14 as a
private individual, asserts that par-
liament should not have taken into
consideration the 34 invalid ballots
and thus he had collected the major-
ity of the valid votes.
SeeVOTEpg2
Press and
courts tangle
once again
REPORTING about the salaries of public ser-
vants might be a risky journalistic undertak-
ing in Slovakia. A police investigator has ac-
cused a reporter working for Sme, a major
daily newspaper, of unauthorised use of per-
sonal data in writing a story that included
information about the salary paid by the
Justice Ministry to the wife of Supreme
Court President tefanHarabin.
Nearly concurrently, the European
Court of Human Rights released an unanim-
ous decision finding that Slovak courts had
erred in a 2003 libel case brought by a former
vice-president of Slovakias Police Corps.
SeeMEDIApg10
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Mapping
Slovakias
poor
MAPS of socially-excluded communities
living in poverty and suffering from other
maladies linked to exclusion from main-
stream society will be used as a tool to
combat marginalisation, the Labour Min-
istry stated in releasing its draft law on so-
cially-excluded communities. The draft,
generally viewed by many observers as a
positive attempt to ameliorate some of the
problems faced by marginalised citizens,
also includes some specific proposals that
several MPs from the coalition govern-
ment have already objected to, such as
cost-free voluntary sterilisations and con-
traceptives.
SeeMAPpg3
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Harabin in hot water
JUSTICE Minister Lucia itansk
has filed yet another disciplinary
proposal against Supreme Court
President tefan Harabin, al-
leging that he violated his duties
as the court president as defined
by several laws.
Her action came on the heels
of a recent ruling by the Constitu-
tional Court which ordered Hara-
bin to forfeit 70 percent of his
salary for one year for not letting
the Finance Ministrys auditors
performanaudit at his court.
This time, itansk filed a
proposal for disciplinary action
against the Supreme Court pres-
ident because, as she said on Au-
gust 3, she is convinced he has not
carried out his obligations to pro-
tect the interests of the Slovak
Republic in the wage discrimina-
tion lawsuits filed by 11 Supreme
Court judges against the Supreme
Court.
See COURTSpg5
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
Vol. 17, No. 28 Monday, August 8, 2011 - Sunday, August 21, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
THE NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
Trnka turns to court;
ent shreds a file
by mistake
Fraudster Fruni released on parole
THE FORMERowner of two
unlicensed deposit compan-
ies, Vladimr Fruni, was re-
leased fromprisononJuly
27, two years before his 11
and a half-year sentence
was to end, the TASRnews-
wire reported. Fruni was a
principal inBMGInvest and
Horizont Slovakia, two
companies that defrauded
depositors ina Slovak ver-
sionof a Ponzi scheme.
Fruni, who recently was
serving his prisontime ina
hospital, was released on
parole and his activities and
movements will be mon-
itored by the police for the
next five years, RomanTar-
abus, spokesmanfor the
TrennRegional Court, told
TASR.
Fruni became one of the
owners of the unlicensed de-
posit companies in1997
along withpartner Marin
ebek. The companies
begansoliciting deposits
fromSlovaks and offered ex-
tremely highinterest rates
up to 50 percent of the depos-
ited money per year. The
companies went bankrupt in
2002, leaving about 170,000
depositors withworthless
accounts, TASRreported.
Fruni was arrested by
Croatianpolice and extra-
dited to Slovakia in2002 and
held incustody awaiting tri-
al. In2007 he was sentenced
to prisonby a senate of
Slovakias now-abolished
Special Court. His lawyer,
MilanKuzma, tried to per-
suade the courts to release
Fruni in2010, saying his cli-
ent had fulfilled the re-
quirements for release onpa-
role. The TrennRegional
Court rejected that petition.
President signs the newLabour Code
ONJULY27, President Ivan
Gaparovi signed the
amended Labour Code, one of
the most sweeping legislat-
ive initiatives prepared by
the current government. If
he had not signed the bill,
the four-party coalitiongov-
ernment led by Prime Minis-
ter Iveta Radiov could have
faced difficulty ingathering
enoughvotes inparliament
to override a veto, the Sme
daily reported.
Four deputies fromthe
Ordinary People faction, who
came to parliament onthe
Freedomand Solidarity (SaS)
party slate, had said they
would not vote for the bill
because of conflicts withthe
rest of the ruling coalition.
Sme wrote that without
these four votes, the gov-
ernment would be unlikely
to override a presidential
veto of the legislation, which
will bring significant
changes inalmost all areas of
labour relations beginning as
soonas September 2011.
The presidents approval
of the bill was somewhat un-
expected but media reported
that the president had said
he had found no legal
obstacles preventing him
fromsigning it into law.
According to the presid-
ent, without anemployer
there would be no
employees, said Marek
Truba, Gaparovis spokes-
person, as quoted by Sme,
adding that the president
thought the newlawwill
help decrease the countrys
unemployment rate.
The changes introduced
by the revised Labour Code
include: cancellationof a
parallel layoff notice period
and severance pay; longer
periods for fixed-termem-
ployment contracts, which
cannowbe agreed for up to
three years, withextensions
or renewals allowed three
times ina three-year period;
a longer layoff notification
period for employees with
long service inthe same job;
and greater protectionfor
mothers and pregnant wo-
men.
While the ruling coali-
tionpraised Gaparovis de-
cision, Slovakia's trade uni-
ons did not hide their disap-
pointment and warned of
worsening working condi-
tions for employees.
Harabin to appeal discipline to ECHR
SUPREME Court President
tefanHarabinwill turnto
the EuropeanCourt of Hu-
manRights inStrasbourg to
hear his objections to a rul-
ing by a disciplinary senate
of the Constitutional Court
that ordered a 70-percent cut
inhis salary for one year, the
TA3 news channel reported.
I amthe first personin
this country who was pun-
ished for his legal opinion,
Harabinsaid to TA3.
The Constitutional Court
cut Harabins salary for not
permitting auditors fromthe
Finance Ministry to conduct
anaudit of the Supreme
Courts financial accounts.
Harabinhas referred to a
situationfrom2007 whenhe,
as the Justice Minister,
wanted to discipline Milan
Karabn, the President of the
Supreme Court at that time,
for not allowing his ministry
to check the operations of
the court. The Constitutional
Court ruled at that time that
Harabinhad no right to do
so.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Tensions rise with Roma evictions
FIVE Roma families were
kicked out of their municip-
ally-owned homes on July 28
in the eastern Slovak muni-
cipality of ierna nad Tisou.
The mayors decision to evict
the families, who had lived in
the homes for several years,
came on the heels of an incid-
ent at the local football field
which has raised tensions
between Roma and non-Roma
in this town of some 3,800
people.
A group of Roma from the
town allegedly attacked the
junior football team during a
practice on July 26, beating up
the coach and one of the play-
ers. The attack was reportedly
carried out by a group of Roma
parents and youths who had
been recently ordered off the
football field by the coach, the
Sme daily reported. The may-
or, Marta Vozrikov, claimed
the evictions had nothing to
do with the football field in-
cident and had been in the
works for months.
According to the daily, the
police brought charges against
three men, aged 15 to 29, who
were accused of inflicting bod-
ily harm to the coach and the
player as well as breaching the
peace. A 38-year-old woman
was also charged with breach-
ing the peace.
A few days after the incid-
ent, the town hall ordered the
families to move out of their
apartments. The eviction was
then completed under the su-
pervision of the police. Mayor
Vozrikov said that the tim-
ing was just a coincidence and
orders for the families to
move out had been issued
three weeks earlier. The
apartments were found to be
in a devastated condition,
the mayor said.
When I was questioned
by the government plenipo-
tentiary for Roma communit-
ies, I made it clear that these
two events were not connec-
ted and such claims would
only provoke hatred,
Vozrikov told The Slovak
Spectator. We have shown
evidence that the eviction no-
tices were issued earlier.
Vozrikov said that al-
together five notices had
been sent to five families
who had been previously
warned that they would no
longer be able to live in their
municipally-owned apart-
ments if they continued to
breach public order and
failed to pay their rent. The
mayor pointed out that one
notice went to a woman
who lived alone and had not
paid her rent in a long time,
while another was issued to
a married couple who have
never paid a cent of rent or
for services provided,
Vozrikov said. The re-
maining three cases were
inadaptable citizens who,
according to the mayor, had
been warned about possible
evictions as far back as
January. Vozrikov as-
sumed her office at the end
of December 2010.
I know this community
well, Vozrikov told The
Slovak Spectator. I visited
them as deputy mayor and I
have worked with them for
the past three years. These
three families had been fully
warned about this step.
The mayor insists that
ierna nad Tisou does not
have problems with its
Roma citizens and that eth-
nic issues are not something
she would consider when
taking decisions. Altogether
there are an estimated 200
Roma living in the town,
most of them poor but integ-
rated into town life, the
mayor said.
I granted 15 flats to
Roma in April and we have
had no problems with them
whatsoever, she stated,
adding that, in contrast, the
families she had forced out
were unwilling to alter their
lifestyles.
Most of the evicted fam-
ily members said they were
hoping to find shelter with
relatives.
One of the evicted Roma
women accused the mayor of
buying Roma votes in the re-
cent election for three sacks
of potatoes and three bottles
of cheap fruit wine, the Sme
daily wrote.
Vozrikov denied the
accusations.
If it were so, it would
have made no sense to take
these steps, she said.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
VOTE: Smer pans ent for shredding
Continuedfrompg1
Trnka, who had withdrawn his can-
didacy for the July 17 vote inwhich ent
was elected, also challenged that vote, ar-
guing that parliament had not respected
the decision of the Constitutional Court,
which had ruled that the vote on a new
general prosecutor was permissible only
after the court had decided on the merits
of the case before it: whether parliament
had the constitutional authority to
change the balloting from a secret vote to
a public, recorded vote.
Trnkas complaint has been assigned
to a Constitutional Court judge for re-
view and Trnka was tight-lipped about
his complaint.
I do not see any reason why I should
comment on my complaint in the media,
Trnka said, as quoted by the TASR news-
wire. The Constitutional Court will be
deciding about the complaint.
The ruling coalition had gone to con-
siderable lengths to turn the previously-
used secret ballot for choosing a general
prosecutor into a recorded vote. But the
Constitutional Court, in a decision pub-
lished on April 20 in response to a case
brought by Trnka himself, ruled that his
constitutional rights had been violated
during two of the parliamentary votes
held last year.
According to the court, the violations
occurred in those votes when MPs re-
vealed how they had voted in the secret
ballot by photographing their ballots or
openly declaring who they had suppor-
ted. The court ruled that by doing so, the
deputies violated the basic principles of a
secret ballot and had violated Trnkas
rights. That is why parliament held an-
other secret ballot on May 17, which
Trnka nowclaims he won.
ent opens gates for criticism
Meanwhile, ent further stirred the
waters through an incident that involved
independent MP Igor Matovi of the Or-
dinary People faction. Matovi testified
twice at the prosecutors office because
the record of his first testimony was de-
leted from the office computer and the
hard copy was shredded. Matovi was
testifying on July 29 about his claims of
large-scale corruption on the part of par-
liamentary parties and their political
nominations for government positions.
The management of the Prosecutor
Generals Office had released information
about what had apparently happened.
While ent stated that the shredding
of the document was a human error, the
opposition Smer party responded that
ent had erased testimony which could
have been damaging for parties in the rul-
ing coalition. But both ent and Matovi
have stated that the questions and re-
sponses in both testimonies were identical.
The deputy chairman of Smer, Pavol
Paka, stated that ent should consider
resigning.
Im convinced that regardless of
whether or not the president appoints
ent, he is an absolutely untrust-
worthy person, Paka stated, as quoted
by TASR, adding that the governing co-
alition should consider whether this is a
person who should stand at the helm of
animportant democratic institution.
ent said he would not comment
on statements made by politicians and
stressed that he has no intention of hid-
ing anything or shredding anything.
This was a human error, about
which I already informed my superior as
well as the Prosecutor Office's press
department, ent told TASR.
Matovi, as well as Tibor umichrast,
the director of the penal department at
the Prosecutor Generals Office, supported
ents version of what happened.
umichrast, according to the Sme daily,
confirmed that the shredding happened
by mistake.
I do not see anything bad behind it,
umichrast said, as quoted by Sme.
Matovi said that the incident should
not be used against ent.
The questioning took place in a pro-
fessional manner, Matovi said. My
impressions were very good and there
was no feeling of manipulation.
Last month Matovi raised the issue
of partisan nominations by the political
parties to government positions and al-
leged that after his faction promised to
publish a list of these partisan nominees,
his Ordinary People faction was
threatened by one of the ruling coalition
parties. The party, he said, threatened to
support mass lawsuits brought against
his factionby the named nominees.
I am accusing of corruption all the
political parties which gained more than
3 percent in the elections, Matovi
stated to the media onJuly 18.
He went on to say that the parties are
abusing their power to nominate persons
to public offices in order to reward their
sponsors, stating that the professional
qualifications of the nominees were not
considered. Matovi said he considers par-
tisan nominations as corrupt behaviour,
adding that though the current coalition
has been trying to combat what he called
the brutal corruption that existed under
the government of Robert Fico, the parties
of the coalition are still involved in a kind
of corruption through their political nom-
inations, while trying to present it as nor-
mal practice, the SITAnewswire wrote.
One of the housingunits iniernanadTisou. Photo: Sme
2
NEWS
August 8 21, 2011
Slovakia grieves
along with Norway
THE TRAGIC extremist at-
tacks in Norway on July 22,
which ended with 76 people
dead, received widespread re-
sponse in Slovakia, not only
because of the dimensions of
the tragedy but also because
the murderer, Anders Behring
Breivik, had written that
Slovakia was the country
least infected with multi-
culturalism.
I was impressed and
deeply touched by the strong
support and solidarity we re-
ceived from Slovakia in these
difficult times, Norways Am-
bassador to Slovakia, Trine
Skymoen, told The Slovak
Spectator. Skymoen said that
her country appreciated not
only the expressions of sym-
pathy to the families of the vic-
tims by many public officials
but also the response of aver-
age Slovak citizens. She men-
tioned her appreciation for the
Concert for Norway, held at
Bratislavas Main Square on Ju-
ly 31, to commemorate the vic-
tims of the massacre on Utoya
Island and the bomb attack in
downtownOslo.
The special commemor-
ative concert was organised
by a civil initiative called A
Rose for Norway that had
spontaneously emerged,
joined by the Bratislava City
Council. The event also fea-
tured a discussion involving
representatives of the Nor-
wegian embassy and mem-
bers of the Norwegian com-
munity inSlovakia.
The square was filled
with people and I would like
to thank them all for
coming, Ambassador Sky-
moen said, again giving
thanks to the artists, organ-
isers and everyone who con-
tributed to the event.
In the days after the
tragedy, candles were lit in
front of the Norwegian em-
bassy, people used social
networking sites to voice
their sorrow, and Norwegian
national symbols were worn
insolidarity.
Allowme to emphatically
condemn these inexcusable
acts of violence and convey
my hope that the perpetrators
will be brought to justice,
Slovak Foreign Affairs Minis-
ter Mikul Dzurinda wrote
on July 22 in a letter of con-
dolence to his Norwegian
counterpart, Jonas Gahr
Store, the TASR newswire re-
ported. Please pass on my
condolences to the families of
the victims and everyone af-
fected by these violent acts.
Slovak President Ivan
Gaparovi sent a letter of
condolence to King Harald V,
while Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov expressed deep sor-
row and sympathy on behalf
of Slovakia and its people in a
letter to her Norwegian coun-
terpart, Jens Stoltenberg.
Norway has become
known as one of Europes
most distinct examples of an
open society based on mutual
tolerance and multicultural-
ism. In the aftermath of the
tragedy, media outlets and
observers around the globe
began speculating whether
Norways approach is likely to
change after the massacre.
Of course, there will be
Norway before July 22, 2011
and Norway after July 22,
2011, the day when the worst
tragedy since World War II
happened in my country,
Skymoen said in her inter-
view with The Slovak Spectat-
or, but she added that the core
values of Norways residents
will definitely be recognisable
evenafter the attacks.
The response of the Nor-
wegian people has been very
clear: more democracy,
openness and freedom,
Skymoen said. It is perfectly
possible to have an open, tol-
erant and inclusive society
and, at the same time, enjoy
functional security without
being naive.
Slovakia received a rather
odd and somewhat discon-
certing mention by the mass
murderer, as Breivik wrote in
his 1,500-page manifesto that
Slovakia topped his ranking of
countries least infected by
multiculturalism.
SeeATTACKpg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
BratislavahostedaConcert for Norway onJuly 31. Photo: TK
MAP: Objections
Continuedfrompg1
According to the Labour
Ministry there are about 700
communities inSlovakia
withsubstandard living
conditions that are home to
anestimated 200,000 people,
40 percent of themchildren
under 15 years of age. These
communities would be des-
ignated ona map that the
ministry will prepare based
onthe law, whichwould
specifically define a socially-
excluded community,
among other provisions.
Minority rights watch-
dogs have responded posit-
ively to the ministrys pro-
posal to undertake the map-
ping and to define socially-
excluded communities
without using race or ethni-
city and to insted base the
designationonother demo-
graphic factors. The min-
istry stated that a socially-
excluded community would
be designated inthe smallest
possible terms, for instance
as a street or a block of flats.
Ambiguity about defin-
ing and designating so-
cially-excluded communit-
ies has caused abuse inus-
ing EUfunds inthe past,
reported Lucia
Nicholsonov, the Labour
Ministrys State Secretary.
It would oftenhappen,
for instance during the dis-
tributionof [EU] Structural
Funds to support projects,
that someone would hide
under the so-called marginal-
ised Roma communities,
Nicholsonov stated, as
quoted by the TASRnews-
wire. There were families
who were Roma, but fully in-
tegrated, who simply werent
ina need of suchhelp.
Specific proposals
Inadditionto defining a
socially-excluded com-
munity onthe basis of
demographic, socio-eco-
nomic and educational
levels, the aimof the pro-
posed law, according to the
ministry, is to make a dis-
tinctionbetweencitizens
who want to contribute to
changing their living condi-
tions by providing the ne-
cessary assistance to them
to overcome social exclu-
sion, and those who, despite
the provided possibilities,
do not reflect onthe basic
rules of howsociety func-
tions and to whomthe state
will give only the basic se-
curity to survive.
The lawproposes
changes infour primary
areas education, employ-
ment and social affairs,
housing, and healthcare and
environment. The funding
to implement the lawwould
come fromthe state budget
as well as more effective use
of EUStructural Funds.
Inthe area of education,
the ministry wants to in-
crease the capacity of
preschool facilities inthe vi-
cinity of socially-excluded
communities and to secure
teaching assistants to help
inthe preschool educationof
childrenfromsocially-ex-
cluded communities. The
draft also introduces what
are called second chance
schools that would help
people fromsocially-ex-
cluded communities com-
plete their primary and sec-
ondary education.
Reproductiveissues
The draft law, though
being praised for not stress-
ing the racial or ethnic di-
mensionof marginalised
communities, caused disar-
ray withinthe governing
coalitionsoonafter
Nicholsonov, fromthe
Freedomand Solidarity (SaS)
party, presented its details.
Some MPs fromthe Christi-
anDemocratic Movement
(KDH) and the Slovak
Democratic and Christian
Union(SDK) quickly criti-
cised the draft lawbecause
it would introduce free ac-
cess to contraceptives as
well as voluntary sterilisa-
tionfor residents of socially-
excluded communities.
Sterilisations are a par-
ticularly sensitive topic be-
cause numerous Roma wo-
menhave claimed that they
were involuntarily steril-
ised and some have taken
the issue to the European
Court of HumanRights
(ECHR) inStrasbourg. Media
coverage of the issue began
after the 2003 release of a
report by the NewYork
Centre for Reproductive
Rights and the Advisory
Service for Civil and Human
Rights titled Body and Soul:
Forced Sterilisations and
Other Attacks onthe Repro-
ductive Freedomof Roma in
Slovakia. The report stated
that there had beenmore
than110 cases of forced ster-
ilisations of Roma women
instate hospitals ineastern
Slovakia since 1989.
Miroslav Beblav, a MP
fromSDK, pointed to cases
currently before the ECHR
and said that Slovakia has
had a bad experience regard-
ing the extent to whichan
agreement froma personis
truly what is called informed
consent. He added that this
proposal is problematic be-
cause it is not meant for all
citizens, and not evenfor all
poor citizens, but only for
those living inghettos and
he also objected that the
provisiondoes not define ac-
cess to healthcare ingeneral
but does so exclusively for
sterilisations.
For anindifferent per-
son, the combinationof
these [three factors] must
provoke animpressionthat
the aim[of the law] is
neither improving access to
healthcare for the poor nor
improving the effectiveness
of reproductionrights, but
rather limiting the birth
rate of a certaingroup on
the basis of racial
targeting, Beblav told The
Slovak Spectator.
3 August 8 21, 2011
NEWS
Hope never dies
SEEKING a place where he could feel safe
Abdi, a young Somali refugee, was
smuggled last year to territory near the
Slovak-Ukraine border where, exhausted
from crossing mountains for three days,
he was caught bySlovakias border police.
Fleeing from a country stricken with
war is one of the ways to avoid being a
casualty of war. According to the 2010
Global Trends report prepared by the UN-
HCR, the United Nations refugee agency,
43.7 million people across the globe are
now displaced due to violent conflicts.
Somalis were among the top 10 national-
ities making up refugees at both the start
andendof thelast decade.
Based onthe latest statistics provided
by Slovakias Foreigners and Border Po-
lice, 516 people in total and 46 Somalis,
had illegally crossed the borders of Slov-
akiain2010.
JourneyfromSomalia
Abdis journey started when he was a
student of the University of Somalia and
actively and publicly advocated for hu-
man rights and criticised the extremism
in his country which was suffering from
20 years of civil war. Threatened by exe-
cutionfor his activism, he made a painful
decision and agreed to pay $2,700 for hu-
man smugglers to take him to one of the
EU countries. Seeking a place with safety
and peace, he made the difficult decision
toleavehis familybehind.
Abdi faced a long journey using dif-
ferent means of transport, including
travelling by car with three other
Somalis.
We couldnot see what countries we
passed, Abdi said. We were moved like
a box of items, withno access to the out-
side world.
The IOM, the International Organ-
ization for Migration, in its study Iden-
tification of Victims of Trafficking
among Migrants in Slovakia reported
that in addition to being subjected to
serious dangers during transport, it is
not unusual for smuggled migrants to
be physically, sexually or psychologic-
ally exploited. Not only was Abdi
treated violently throughout his ex-
hausting journey but he was also forced
tooverpaythe smugglers.
Slovakasylumtrends
The Migration Office of Slovakias In-
terior Ministry is the government body
responsible for reviewing asylum applic-
ations and making decisions about
asylum procedures and applications. Ac-
cording to its annual reports the number
of asylum applications has been declin-
ing since 2004 when it reached the peak,
11,395 applicants. In 2010 the office re-
ceived only 541 asylum applications. In
aggregate terms, only 580 people were
granted this form of protection out of
56,160 asylum applications submitted
between1993 andMay2011.
Better protection of the Slovak bor-
der, the absence of large communities of
foreigners in Slovakia and an overall de-
cline in the number of asylum seekers in
most EU countries were among the
factors that caused the fall in asylum ap-
plications, according to an IOMstudy en-
titled Annual Statistical Report onMigra-
tion and International Protection in the
SlovakRepublic.
Slovakia is a conservative country
with strict migration and asylum
policies, said Laco Oravec, a programme
director fromthe Milan imeka Founda-
tion(MF), speaking at a Migrants inthe
Spotlight discussion in May 2011.
Asylum seekers have to prove a 100-per-
cent threat that they face intheir country
of origin and this is very difficult since
these people often leave the country in
hurryandwithout anydocuments.
SeeASYLUMpg10
BYZUZANAPOPRENDOV
Special to the Spectator
A Somali refugee shares
his journey
Steel plant may open in Preov
ONE OF the worlds biggest
steel giants, ThyssenKrup
based inGermany, will re-
portedly opena newplant in
Preov, the Hospodrske
Noviny daily wrote, with
employment estimated at
1,200 people.
The spokespersonfor
Preov mayor Veronika
Gazdov did not confirmany
informationbut did admit
that there are ongoing nego-
tiations betweenthe citys
representatives and anun-
named company.
ThyssenKrup clusters
almost 700 firms across the
globe and employs about
180,000 people.
Hospodrske Noviny
wrote that the firmcould be
attracted to Slovakia by pos-
sible cooperationwithHon-
eywell, whichhas estab-
lished a facility inPreovs
industrial park, or by Volk-
swagen, to whichThyssen-
Krup currently supplies auto
components.
IBMinvestment reportedly is lost
THE AMERICAN-based IBM
company apparently will
not make its planned mega-
investment inSlovakia.
Earlier this year it was an-
nounced that the firm
would employ 3,000 people
withinthree years ineither
Koice or ilina.
At the beginning of
summer the company
stopped the negotiations
withus as well as withthe
Slovak Investment and
Trade Development Agency
(SARIO), anemployee of
the US embassy inSlovakia
told the Hospodrske Nov-
iny daily.
SARIOneither confirmed
nor denied that information.
Its spokesperson, Richard
Drer, told Hospodrske Nov-
iny that negotiations have
not beenclosed because
IBMs representatives have
not informed the agency
about a final decisionone
way or the other.
The spokespersonfor
Koices city hall, Martina
Viktorinov, was also re-
luctant to comment on
whether negotiations had
beenbrokenoff withIBM
regarding aninvestment in
her city.
Hospodrske Noviny
wrote that Slovakia was not
the only country competing
for the investment. Origin-
ally, the competitionin-
cluded Poland and Egypt and
IBMhad chosenEgypt only
to later abandonthe entire
idea after the insurgency in
that country.
The daily hinted that
that the investment could be
going to Poland based oncer-
taininformationpublished
inPolishnewspapers.
Ministry unveils one-stop registry
THE MINISTRYof Economy
has unveiled a newonline
database of business and
non-business entities, www.
hospodarskyregister.sk,
whichEconomy Minister
Juraj Mikov said will help
people avoid doing business
withunreliable companies,
the Hospodrske Noviny
daily reported.
The site, composed of
data fromall other state ad-
ministrationregistries, will
provide various kinds of eco-
nomic informationabout
business entities, providers
of services, producers, ex-
porters and importers, asso-
ciations and other types of
organisations.
Moreover, the daily
wrote that the database
will have its ownevalu-
ationrating of the credibil-
ity and reliability of the lis-
ted companies.
The database will include
a list of those firms who have
debts to either the state-run
social insurer, Socilna
Poisova, or any of the
countrys healthinsurers.
We want to help busi-
nessmennot to start busi-
ness withunreliable
companies, Mikov said, as
quoted by Hospodrske Nov-
iny.
Rbert Kiina of the
Business Alliance of Slovakia
(PAS) praised the systemand
said that nowbusinesses can
finally find all the informa-
tionthey need inone place.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
State's budget plans are on track
THOUGH the condition of
public finances has been the
trigger for some major mi-
graines for governments
around the world, Slovakias
Ministry of Finance says that
the development of Slovakias
finances has been generally
positive and that the ministry
is not planning any additional
measures in order to lower
this years deficit to 4.9 per-
cent of gross domestic
product. Market watchers say
the planned deficit is realistic
if the government can keep
spending under control.
We see no reason to pre-
pare additional measures,
said Slovakias Finance Minis-
ter Ivan Miklo, as quoted by
SITAnewswire.
The Finance Ministry
nevertheless admits that cer-
tain developments might
pose some risks. The consol-
idation of the state-owned
railway companies, clearing
of the debts of Slovakias hos-
pitals, or a shortfall from the
sale of excess emission
quotas might have a negative
effect on the budget, accord-
ing to Miklo.
At the end of July 2011, the
state deficit stood at 1.675 bil-
lion. Revenues had increased
by 8.9 percent year-on-year to
6.569 billion as spending
dipped by 2.4 percent to stand
at 8.244 billion. The state
budget deficit was 30 percent
lower than in the same period
last year, the Finance Min-
istry said ina release.
Finance Ministry spokes-
man Martin Jaro said that
after seven months one can
say that running the state cost
the citizens significantly less
than a year ago. While over
the first seven months of 2010,
basic spending on state insti-
tutions reached 5.56 billion,
in the same period this year
the figure stood at 5.09 bil-
lion. Jaro said this indicates a
cheaper bill by 8.4 percent .
So far we consider that
the planned deficit in the
state budget of 3.81 billion
and subsequently the deficit
of public finances at 4.9 per-
cent of GDP are achievable,
Eva Sadovsk, an analyst with
the Potov Banka, told The
Slovak Spectator.
According to Sadovsk,
the ability of the government
to keep public spending un-
der control and at the same
time keeping public pro-
curement tidy will be decis-
ive incontaining the deficit.
The main driver of the
Slovak economy this year is
foreign demand, Sadovsk
said.
If it [foreign demand]
should weaken in the second
half of the year, it could have
negative impact not only on
the economy but also the
public finance deficit,
Sadovsk said.
Miklo said that em-
ployment developments
have also been good as the
rate of growth is increasing
faster thanpredicted.
Employment growth
will make up for a drop in
real salaries and we can af-
firm that there will be no
drop in living standards in
terms of real public
consumption, he stated, as
quoted by the TASR.
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
SUN: Subsidies end for large, new plants
Continuedfrompg4
It also asked the prosecutors office to
determine whether there hadbeencorrupt
practices by other offices involved in issu-
ing documents needed to operate photo-
voltaic power stations, according to
RSOs press release.
The office has been checking photo-
voltaic power stations from the beginning
of the year, RSO stated in its press re-
lease, explaining that the checks focused
on examining the compliance of all photo-
voltaic power stations withlegal norms, as
thesolar generationof electricityis subsid-
ised by all Slovak electricity consumers.
Generating electricity from solar sources
alsohas animpact onthe end-price paidby
consumers for electricity.
RSO announced partial results of its
checks onJuly 27, stating that it had found
problems with 10 percent of the solar
power plants it had checked. At that point
RSOs inspectors hadreviewed372 facilit-
ies and planned to inspect 18 more facilit-
ies during the first week of August inorder
to finishits reviewof all solar power plants
withaninstalledcapacityof morethan100
kW. OnJuly 1 this level of capacity became
the cut-off point for receipt of guaranteed
feed-in tariffs. Slovakia has 813 solar facil-
ities with an aggregate installed capacity
of 478MW, accordingtoRSO.
We found several faults during the
inspections, RSOs Jozef Holjenk said
at a press conference on July 27. What is
bewildering is that the companies [we] in-
spected received their final building ap-
provals and went through all tests and in
spiteof this, thepower facilities arenot yet
completed. Panels and constructions were
missing and switchboards were not con-
nected, which means that the facilities
have not beenfinished. Theywere not cap-
able of producing the declared amount of
electricity, as the specific capacity of the
panels was not installed.
RSOfound violations in all regions of
Slovakia, specifying that solar power sta-
tions were in violation in the districts of
Trebiov, Komrno, Rimavsk Sobota, and
ilina, amongothers.
At one photovoltaic power station
near Brezno people living nearby reported
in July that solar panels were mounted
onlyonone side of the plant, the Sme daily
wrote. The applicable local construction
office as well as Stredoslovensk Ener-
getika company claimed that they issued
necessary permissions and documents in
line with the legislation. Inspectors and
the police will now decide whether the
station was completed by the deadline re-
quired for qualifying for the subsidised
feed-intariffs, accordingtoSme.
The installed capacity of the photovol-
taic power stations under investigation
comes to about 30 MW. Holjenk indic-
ated that if it is proven that these power
stations were not completed by the dead-
line and did not meet the requirements of
the law, they may be disqualified from re-
ceiving the generous feed-in tariffs. This
may lead to a drop in the aggregate in-
stalled capacity of photovoltaic power
plants andthat may bring a dropinelectri-
city prices beginning either on September
1 or at the beginningof next year.
RSO has also been cooperating with
Slovakias Anticorruption Office in its in-
vestigation.
Lawyer Juraj Bizo told Sme that the
Penal Code has sentences of up to 15 years
in prison for financial fraud depending on
the damages causedby the fraud. He added
that accomplices to a fraud include all
those who participated in it in any way,
the person who had submitted fictitious
documents as well as anyone whohadcon-
firmed in documents that a power station
hadbeencompleted.
Industryassociationresponds
The Slovak Association of Photovolta-
ic Industry (SAPI) condemns the unfair
practices of some individuals who did not
respect valid legislation during construc-
tion of their solar power plants, Martin
Toman, the deputy director of SAPI, told
The Slovak Spectator. But the association
simultaneously protests against general-
ising from failures of individuals to the
whole sector.
Toman said that SAPI currently has
about 40 members and RSOs suspicions
of fraudulent or corrupt behaviour do not
involve anyof its member companies.
According to Toman, more than 800
individual photovoltaic power stations
were built between2009 and 2011, within-
stalled capacity ranging from 2 kW to 100
kW for rooftop power stations to an in-
stalled capacity of 4 MW for large land-
basedsolar power stations.
SAPI welcomes inspections from the
side of RSO or the energy inspection au-
thority, which may help to uncover these
individual and rare failures, SAPI wrote
in its press release, adding that it is in
SAPIs interest that there is a transparent
regulatory environment so that the
photovoltaic industry can develop and in-
appropriate behaviour canbe detected and
prevented.
Economy Minister Juraj Mikov criti-
cised the previous government of Robert
Fico as well as RSO in early July, saying
an excessively generous environment was
permitted that led to a boom in solar gen-
eration and pushed up electricity prices.
He said his ministry would conduct in-
spections of solar power stations on its
own. In response, RSO defended the way
it hadset the feed-intariffs.
Anewlawto curb constructionof solar
power stations came into effect on July 1.
It provides that only solar power stations
with an installed capacity of less than 100
kW, mounted on roofs or walls of existing
buildings, can qualify for the subsidised
feed-in tariffs. The change in the law was
pursued by the Economy Ministry to halt
the boom in construction of subsidised
photovoltaic power stations.
Representatives of solar power sta-
tions have stated that they expect the new
legislation to halt the growth of the in-
dustryfor some time.
4
BUSINESS
August 8 21, 2011
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NEW INDUSTRIAL HALLS IN VRBLE w
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SP90570/2
The solar boomcouldend. Photo: Sme
IvanMiklo Photo: TASR
Multi kulti
EVERYTHING bad is good for
something, says a Slovak pro-
verb. It is almost impossible
to find anything positive
about the tragedy in Norway.
But it did give Slovakia a
chance to learn something
about itself.
First, Slovakia came out
on top on Anders Breiviks list
of countries least brain-
washed with multiculturalist
propaganda. Given the fact
Breivik is a lunatic who got
his results by browsing Face-
book, the 90-out-of-100 score
on his personal psycho-scale
is probably not particularly
accurate. But still, the
thought of even a random
lunatic adoring us as the least
tolerant country is a little dis-
turbing.
Facebook was also behind
another big discovery. Smer
vice-chair Duan aplovi
shared with his friends that
while contemplating the
tragedy in Norway and the
fact that the terrorist and
mass murderer, according to
his electronic notes, was in-
spired by the nihilismof Czech
president Vclav Klaus, he
realised the responsibility that
politicians have.
Lucky thing Breivik
didnt know the views of
Richard Sulk and other Slov-
ak MPs. Watch out for them,
the wind of violence and
hatred blows from their side
too, aplovi also wrote.
An interesting observa-
tion coming from a man who
just a year ago sat in govern-
ment with the Slovak Na-
tional Party (SNS), whose
boss Jn Slota felt the Roma
needed a small courtyard
and a long whip, and proph-
esised that one day Slovaks
will get into tanks and bring
downBudapest.
Equally fascinating is
aplovis choice of villains
Sulk apparently detests the
Greek bailout and seems very
passionate about the issue.
But his liberal SaS party, hop-
ing to decriminalise soft
drugs and legalise gay part-
nerships, has so far shown
few signs of intolerance or
aggression.
It is true that there is no
party in Slovakia which men-
tions multiculturalism in
its manifesto. And yes, for-
eigners do have a hard time
getting permanent residence
and the country hardly ever
grants asylum.
Yes, integrating the Roma
minority seems to be an in-
soluble problem. And rela-
tions between Slovaks and
Slovak Hungarians are not
always rosy.
But of the two local
parties that Breivik men-
tioned as like-minded and
which not long ago formed
the ruling coalition the pop-
ulist HZDS and the nationalist
SNS one is already gone from
parliament and the other
seems on its way out. That
does not make Slovakia open
to multi-kulti or immune to
extremism. But at least the
maniacs are no longer run-
ning the country.
ATTACK: Slovakia mentioned
Continuedfrompg3
Along with Slovenia, Slovakia scored 90
points out of a maximum of 100, making these
two countries with the lowest level of multi-
cultural indoctrination, followed by the
Czech Republic with 80 points. This dubious
ranking of Slovakia began a media and public
discussion about the extent to which prin-
ciples of multiculturalism are respected with-
inthe country.
In all societies, there will always be
forces which will try to pull the country away
fromopenness and tolerance, but what I have
seen here in Slovakia is strong and spontan-
eous support for the Norwegian people as well
as for tolerance, openness and democracy,
Ambassador Skymoen told The Slovak Spec-
tator, adding that after the terrorist attacks
Breivik committed and the views he ex-
pressed, he should not be listened to by Slov-
aks or anyone else.
Radka Minarechov contributed
to this report
The cursed chair melodrama
THE CURSED Chair could
easily be the catchy title for
Slovakias main-stage politic-
al melodrama: who will oc-
cupy the general prosecutors
chair for the next seven
years. Though the develop-
ments over the past eight
months bear many signs of a
soap opera, where many un-
expected, often unpredict-
able and really absurd events
have tumbled in the path of
the 'hero', reality is much
more serious than that be-
cause our country is deciding
who will lead one of the most
powerful and important in-
stitutions inthe country.
The problem with this
particular melodrama, enter-
taining the nation since last
December, is that we cannot
really hire another screen-
writer since the plot is being
written by a whole bunch of
people: the elected general
prosecutor and the former
general prosecutor and their
supporters and opponents;
parliamentary deputies; the
prime minister, and her op-
ponents and supporters; and
the Slovak president as well.
And what is the latest
turn? Former general prosec-
utor Dobroslav Trnka, who is
desperately clinging to the
throne of his kingdom called
the prosecution, now claims
that he should have been de-
clared the winner of the May
17 secret ballot vote in par-
liament and his name should
have beensent onto the pres-
ident for appointment.
Trnka has taken this ar-
gument to the Constitutional
Court, claiming that his basic
rights to equal access to an
elected public position were
violated because the results of
the May 17 vote were counted
incorrectly. Trnka won the
support of 70 MPs of the 150
present, 17 voted against him,
29 deputies abstained from
the vote, and 34 votes were
invalid. According to Trnkas
logic, the invalid votes should
have not been counted in the
total and thus his 70 votes
were more thana majority.
To spice up the melo-
drama, Jozef ent, finally
elected by MPs from the rul-
ing coalition after a rather
laborious trial and error pro-
cess, which at several points
could have brought down the
government, admitted that
he had accidentally deleted a
computer file with widely-
publicised testimony on
what the 'witness' called
massive political corruption
and had also shredded the
hard copy of that testimony.
The witness was no one
other than the enfant ter-
rible of the political stage,
independent MP Igor
Matovi of the Ordinary
People faction who later on
the same day repeated his
testimony with ent, say-
ing that the accidental de-
struction of his first testi-
mony should not be used
against ent and that he
had given essentially the
same testimony.
But for the opposition
Smer party, which would
dearly like Trnka to return to
office, it matters very little
what Matovi said, because
the incident fits perfectly in-
to their juicy role in the me-
lodrama, giving them some
new ammunition to fire at
ent. Since Matovi has
been trumpeting for some
time that he was going to re-
veal information on large-
scale political corruption,
Smer now states that ent
deleted the first testimony
because it was damaging to
the ruling coalition.
Even if it is highly im-
probable that ent inten-
tionally dumped the testi-
mony, if it had happened,
Matovi driven by his polit-
ical exhibitionism would
have been all over the media
with it. But the fact that
ent made a clumsy blun-
der, even before he has been
officially appointed by Pres-
ident Gaparovi, makes the
elected general prosecutor
very vulnerable.
The situation will cer-
tainly not increase the
publics confidence in the
prosecution something that
many had hoped ent
would bring because it is
clear that ent poorly
handled the whole commu-
nication process around the
shredding incident.
So, the 'Cursed Chair' me-
lodrama has already featured
court rulings over changing
the secret ballot into a recor-
ded vote, along with deputies
photographing their ballots
or openly declaring who they
had supported, thus serving
up on a golden plate another
reason for Trnka to challenge
the May 17 vote count before
the Constitutional Court.
Now, if ent finally
succeeds in getting officially
appointed, he will have to
work unbelievably hard to
wash down the after-taste of
all the absurd turns of this
process. But until then, all of
us who are forced to continue
to watch this melodrama un-
fold are left with nothing but
a hope that some even more
unbelievable turn in the plot
will not glue the wheels of
the prosecution to someone
who truly seems to prefer
bathing in unlimited power,
preferably for a limitless
time, all the while doing so
behind firmly-closed doors.
5 August 8 21, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Even the Supreme Court President, like any other court president,
cannot do anything [he wants].
Justice Minister Lucia itansk
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
COURTS: itansk wants Harabin out
Continuedfrompg1
itansk said that in particular Ha-
rabin did not appeal against a Bratislava I
District Court ruling from November 10,
2010 in favour of the judges, which
ordered the state to pay damages of 1 mil-
lion, plus court expenses of over 45,000.
itansk alleges Harabin violated the
law on judges, the law on the administra-
tion of state assets, and the law on the
budgetary rules in public administration.
She said he was obliged to use all available
legal tools to protect state assets as part of
his administrative duties as the Supreme
Court head and had failed to do so. Since
Harabin has already been found guilty of
committing a major disciplinary offence,
the minister proposes that the new discip-
linary court strip himof his post as a judge.
itansk said that the Supreme
Court president, like any other court
president, must follow guidelines that
stay within the limits of the law and the
public interest.
The Supreme Court responded by
saying that the sanction requested by
the minister is legal nonsense and noth-
ing more thanpolitical chicanery.
Hundreds of judges have filed wage
discrimination lawsuits following a
Constitutional Court ruling in May 2009
that found that Slovakias Special Court
had not been established in accordance
with the countrys constitution. The
case was brought mainly on the grounds
that Special Court judges were paid more
than Supreme Court judges. The already
muddy waters of the Slovak judiciary
were stirred further in February 2010
whenthe first verdict in a wage-discrim-
ination lawsuit found in favour a
Trenn Regional Court judge and awar-
ded him 90,000 in damages. The ver-
dict was handed down by another judge
who was herself the plaintiff in a similar
complaint. The Justice Ministry did not
react at that time and the former justice
minister, Viera Petrkov, herself had a
wage-discrimination lawsuit pending,
which she had filed while previously
working as a judge.
Salary records indicate that the 11 Su-
preme Court judges who filed suits were
being paid 4,300 less than judges sitting
onSlovakias Special Court.
Previously, on July 26, the Supreme
Court stated that it must respect the
Constitutional Court verdict which ruled
there had been the wage discrimination
against the Supreme Court judges.
The Supreme Court plenumrepeatedly
stated that the Supreme Court president
shouldnt appeal since that only increases
the costs of the lawsuits at the expense of
the taxpayers, the Supreme Court wrote.
The Justice Ministry rejected that ar-
gument, saying that the state is not oblig-
ated to pay court costs in this case.
itansk said there are some 700 lawsuits
along these same lines and she believes
they must have beenorganised by someone
hoping to strengthen his power in the
judiciary. She suggested this more than
likely the Supreme Court president.
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EDITORIAL
BEATA BALOGOV - Editor - In - Chief
J AMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor
DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor
J ANA LIPTKOV - Staff Writer
MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer
ZUZANA VILIKOVSK - Staff Writer
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LAYOUT, WEB & IT
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TOM KELLEY - Circulation Manager
An opportunity to sample Holland
THE NETHERLANDS Chamber
of Commerce inSlovakia con-
tinued its recent traditionof
holding a DutchMarket and
onJune 4 this year the square
of the Eurovea complex on
the Danube embankment
was filled withalmost 20
stands offering Dutchdelic-
acies and lots of information
about this lowland country of
westernEurope.
Visitors were able to taste
as well as buy Dutchcheeses,
sweets, stroopwafels and
beverages, books about the
Netherlands and genuine
Dutchbicycles, as well as
get informationabout op-
portunities to study Dutch
inSlovakia.
All the earnings fromthe
sale of Dutchproducts as
well as all proceeds fromthe
auctionof bouquets of Dutch
tulips that together amoun-
ted to 2,600 went to the So-
cia foundation, whichthe
chamber has beencooperat-
ing withfor six years. To-
gether they are coordinating
several projects supporting
social change.
This year marked the
third editionof what has
already become a very popu-
lar event inBratislava. The
two previous DutchMarkets
were held at Frantiknske
Square inOld Town.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Some companies with Dutch capital
in Slovakia
AAAAuto, www.aaaauto.sk
Ahold, www.ahold.sk
Business Lease Slovakia, www.businesslease.sk
HeinekenSlovensko, www.heinekenslovensko.sk
Hypernova, www.hypernova.sk
INGBank N.V., www.ing.sk
Leaf Slovakia, www.leaf.eu
LeasePlanSlovakia, www.leaseplan.sk
PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax, www.pwc.com/sk
Probugas, www.probugas.sk
TMF Services Slovakia, www.tmf-group.com
UnionPoisova, www.union.sk
Source: TheNetherlands Chamber of CommerceintheSlovakRepublic;
TheSlovakSpectator database
Institutions of the Netherlands
in Slovakia
Royal Netherlands Embassy
Ambassador: Daphne Bergsma
www.holandskoweb.com
Netherlands Chamber of Commerce
inthe SlovakRepublic
President: Emile M. Roest
www.netherlandschamber.sk
The Netherlands: General facts
Political system: Constitutional monarchy
Capital: Amsterdam(however, the parliament and the
monarchreside inThe Hague)
Total area: 41,526 square kilometres
Population: 16.6 million
Official language: Dutch
Currency: euro
Source: Royal Netherlands Embassy
Marriage as a union of
two individuals
FOR DAPHNE Bergsma stand-
ing up for diversity and gay
rights is not an issue requiring
further discussion but rather a
part of the widely-recognised
Dutchinstinct for protecting
human rights and freedoms.
The Dutch ambassador to
Slovakia believes that the
day will come in more and
more countries where ho-
mosexual politicians will no
longer make front-page
news simply because of their
sexual orientation.
The Slovak Spectator spoke
with Ambassador Bergsma
about protecting minority
rights and energy security,
about the importance of re-
membering the Holocaust and
found out why several Slovaks
have become part-owners of a
benchinthe Netherlands.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
You added your signature to
a statement by 20 ambas-
sadors supporting the Rain-
bow Pride event in Bratis-
lava. What was your main
reason? How do you assess
thelevel of public discussion
inSlovakiaabout gayrights?
Daphne Bergsma (DB):
Signing the letter was not a
matter of discussion. It was a
natural move for us both as
diplomats and also as indi-
vidual members of the em-
bassy since supporting and
promoting the acceptance of
the gay community is part of
the Netherlands official
policies in and outside the
country. Support for the
rights of gays, lesbians, trans-
genders, bisexuals, the so-
called LGBT, existed under
previous governments and
continues as well under the
new right-wing, Christian-
Democratic government. We
supported the Pride organisa-
tion financially as well, just as
we did last year. Personally,
along with several other am-
bassadors, I took part in a con-
ference organised by the
[Slovak] Government Office
that addressed the issue of gay
marriages since the Nether-
lands was actually the first
country in the world to intro-
duce gay marriage by simply
changing the definition of a
marriage as beingonlya union
of amanandwomantostating
that it is a union between two
individuals, with one restric-
tion: you can be married to
only one person. We do not
support bigamy.
TSS: Some Slovak public fig-
ures then signed an open
letter which criticised the
ambassadors for what they
called interference in
Slovakias internal affairs.
How do you respond to that
letter?
DB: We do not think that
this is interference in internal
matters. We are talking about
the International Declaration
of Human Rights which Slov-
akia has signed.
SeeDBpg8
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
DutchAmbassador Daphne Bergsma Photo: JanaLiptkov
Dutch investments keep arriving
INALFA Roof Systems, Semecs, and Van
Doren Engineers: these are just three of
the significant investments that Dutch
companies madeinSlovakialast year, con-
firming that in spite of the economic
downturn Dutch investors continue to
view the country as a place with great
business opportunities due to its central
location, its membership in the European
Unionanditsrelativelylowwages.
Economic cooperation between the
Netherlands and Slovakia remains at a
very high level, Yvette Daoud, a counsel-
lor fromthe trade department of the Royal
Netherlands Embassy in Bratislava, told
TheSlovakSpectator.
Richard Kellner, the vice president of
the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in
Slovakia, also confirmed the thriving co-
operation in economic affairs and added
that firms from the Netherlands continue
tobelargeinvestorsinSlovakia.
The strong position of Dutch in-
vestors was even more visible in the
course of 2010, when foreign direct in-
vestment (FDI) of Dutchoriginrepresen-
ted more than half of all FDI coming to
the country, Kellner told The Slovak
Spectator.
In citing data from the FDI Intelli-
genceUnit of TheFinancial Times, Kellner
noted that capital expenditures by Dutch
companies in Slovakia totalled $ 1.405 bil-
lion between 2003 and 2010. Dutch in-
vestors accounted for 4.72 percent of total
investments in Slovakia during this peri-
od and in 2010 the Dutch share of total in-
vestment was 58.4 percent. Kellner repor-
ted that 6,864 jobs had been created
between2003and2010.
Even though the interest of Dutch
companies ininvesting inSlovakia is now
lower than before the economic crisis,
Daoud said Slovakia remains an interest-
ingsitefor Dutchinvestors.
Labour costs are still very competit-
ive with respect to costs in the Nether-
lands and production is made within the
EU, avoiding other costs, Daoud stated.
Many Dutch companies have moved
production to Slovakia and then export
the product back to the Netherlands. The
trade balance is therefore much to the ad-
vantageof Slovakia.
Kellner added that the reasons that
applied before the crisis such as proxim-
ity to markets and customers and a low-
cost base in Slovakia continue to play an
important rolein2011.
Historically, Dutch investments have
been directed into a broad range of indus-
tries, from pure manufacturing to retail
and financial services, Kellner said,
adding that his chamber sees new oppor-
tunities particularly in several fields that
require further advancement in Slovakia,
such as clean energy, ICT, business ser-
vices andR&D.
Daoudnotedthat all kinds of industrial
production are of interest to Dutch com-
panies, adding that in other sectors Dutch
firms are seeking cooperation with Slov-
akia on water management, especially
with regard to flooding, and energy man-
agement, including renewable energies,
reduction of carbon dioxide in the envir-
onment andlow-energytypes of buildings.
The Dutch embassy also has said that
the Netherlands is very interested in col-
laborating with the Slovak government
and businesses in the area of corporate so-
cial responsibility(CSR).
This fall a workshop[onCSR] will be or-
ganised for officials at ministries and
businesses, Daoud said. She added that the
embassy is also preparing an exhibition
about Dutchdesigninrecyclable packaging.
It will combine our interests in design, in
environmentally-friendly products, and in
corporatesocial responsibility.
SeeFDI pg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
6 August 8 21, 2011
The Netherlands
accounted for more
than half of Slovakias
FDI in 2010
Traditional Dutchwoodenshoes - clogs. Photo: JanaLiptkov
GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is No.1 in
bringing FDI to Slovakia
Getting a taste of Holland
at the Dutch market
Some companies with Belgian
capital in Slovakia
Aspel Slovakia, www.aspel-group.com
Bekaert, www.bekaert.com
CESAM, www.cesam.sk
SOBBanka, www.csob.sk
EICGroup, www.eastic.sk
PlastiflexSlovakia, www.plastiflex.com
VGD, www.vgd.sk
VMASlovakia, www.vma.be
Topcom, www.topcom.net
Source: TheSlovakSpectator database
CompiledbySpectator staff
Trade between Belgiumand Slovakia
In2010, Slovakia ranked 40thonthe list of Belgiums
major trade partners, after Thailand but ahead of
Singapore.
Belgianexports to Slovakia amounted to 765.8 million
in2010 incomparisonwith579.7 millionin2009,
anincrease of 32.1 percent.
In2010 Slovakia received 0.2 percent of the total Belgian
exports.
In2010 Slovakia was in42nd positioninimports entering
Belgium.
Belgiumimported 730.9 millioningoods fromSlovakia
in2010 incomparisonto 630.7 millionin2009, an
increase of 15.9 percent.
The files of the Export Agency for ForeignTrade list 1,486
Belgiancompanies that export to Slovakia. There are also
anadditional 2,936 Belgiancompanies that have shown
signs of interest inthe Slovak market.
Source: Embassyof Belgium
Institution of Belgiumin Slovakia
The Embassyof BelgiuminSlovakia
Ambassador: Walter Lion
www.diplomatie.be/bratislava
Belgium: General facts
Political system: Federal parliamentary democracy
under a constitutional monarchy
Capital: Brussels
Total area: 30,528 square kilometres
Population: over 10.5 million
Official languages: French, Dutch, German
Currency: euro
7 August 8 21, 2011
Our marriage de raison
has existed for 180 years
SIZE does not necessarily de-
termine the role that coun-
tries play on the international
stage says Walter Lion, the
Belgian ambassador to Slov-
akia, who explained that
smaller countries are often
the consensus-makers who
are able to encourage other
countries to find interna-
tional compromises. He ad-
ded that the issue of interna-
tional migration, which
brings both challenges and
opportunities, should be ad-
dressed at the level of the
European Union because it
long ago transcended the
borders of individual states.
The Slovak Spectator
spoke with Ambassador Lion
about the benefits and chal-
lenges of living in a multi-lin-
gual country such as Belgium,
about the countrys current
political environment, and
about the importance of re-
gional alliances such as Bene-
lux and the Visegrad Four.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
Belgium has a truly multi-
lingual society but tensions
over language have rocked
some governments in the
past. How is it possible to
keep the balance and elim-
inate tensions between the
Flemish, French and Ger-
man-speaking parts of your
country? What lessons could
Slovakia learn from Belgi-
um?
Walter Lion (WL): While
the language issue is a bit
more sensitive in Belgium
than it is here in Slovakia it
needs to be seen in historical
context: Belgium was foun-
ded on the borderline of Ger-
manic and Latin language
communities which resulted
in part of the country speak-
ing French and the other part
speaking Dutch. Flemish and
Dutch are the same language.
Having these languages and
cultural communities is as
well a challenge and a source
of enrichment.
Cultural diversity within
ones border allows us to use
the best of both.
Besides, we also have a
third language community,
German, which is spoken in
Belgium by a small group of
about 50,000 people. These
German-speaking Belgians
enjoy extensive autonomy.
They have their own regional
government and have their
ministers who can travel
abroad and sign treaties,
which is unseen elsewhere
inthe world.
This cultural and language
situation makes Belgium
unique. The result is a country
of hard-working, happy
people who, whenever pos-
sible, are also able to enjoy life
and all it brings: travelling,
culture, food and enjoying life
in a historically-rich area
smaller thanSlovakia.
We are actually living
without a government. Since
last years elections, the
countrys politicians have
been unable to form a new
government in these challen-
ging times. Belgium is held
together by a marriage de
raison existing for 180 years.
It has not always been an easy
marriage. But since the last
century there have been less
than 10 victims of language
clashes as we always keep
even edgy issues peaceful: the
Belgiancompromise!
Regarding the legislation
on language use, Dutch is the
language of official contacts
in the Flemish part, while
French is the official language
in the Walloon part and Ger-
man is partly used in the
German-speaking part. Brus-
sels is the only exception, as it
is a bilingual region where
either French or Dutch are the
official languages.
SeeWLpg9
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BelgianAmbassador Walter Lion Photo: JanaLiptkov
Belgian firms expand their established Slovak investments
IN MAY Bekaert, a global company
with headquarters in Belgium that
has been operating in Slovakia for 10
years, opened its expanded facility in
Sldkoviovo inthe presence of Prime
Minister Iveta Radiov, Rbert
imoni, the CEO of the Slovak In-
vestment and Trade Development
Agency (SARIO) and Bert De Graeve,
the CEO of Bekaert. The expansion
provided the facility with a standard
manufacturing platform and vastly
increased its production capacity,
bringing Bekaerts aggregate invest-
ment inSlovakia to240million.
This expansion shows howseveral
Belgian investors have become well-
rooted in Slovakia and that past eco-
nomic cooperationhas beenfruitful.
Slovakia certainly does remain an
attractive location for any foreign in-
vestors for several pragmatic reasons,
Lucia Harabinov, the trade secretary
at the Embassy of Belgium in Slovakia
and the representative of the Wallonia
Foreign Trade and Investment Agency
(AWEX), told The Slovak Spectator,
adding that an important advantage is
that it is situated in the centre of cent-
ral Europe. Other advantages she
noted are the countrys flat tax rate as
well as the possibility to receive state
subsidies. In general, and speaking
in the name of several stable Belgian
investors that have been operating in
Slovakia for several years, I must say
they do perceive stability with regard
to their businesses and they prove it
by their new investments in their
current locations.
Richard Drer, SARIOs spokes-
person, confirmed that Belgian in-
vestors continue to consider Slovakia
with interest and that SARIOis work-
ingonseveral newprojects.
We are working on five projects
with aggregate investment of about
80 million, which may create 600 to
900 new working positions, Drer
toldThe SlovakSpectator.
Drer noted that the focus of in-
terest by Belgian investors is very
similar to those from the Nether-
lands. While Belgian investors have
been primarily interested in the
automotive and electro-technical in-
dustry, processing of metals and sim-
ilar industries, there is interest in
services as well.
SARIO has completed 13 projects
with Belgian firms totalling 96.2
million in investment that had the
potential to create from1,300 to 1,700
newjobs.
In answering a question whether
any new sectors had emerged in Slov-
akia that are attractive for Belgian in-
vestors, Harabinov cited a discus-
sion she recently had with a Belgian
firminterestedinthe foodsector.
Surprisingly, he was not inter-
ested in state subsidies but he was
unpleasantly surprised that Slovakia
has the highest VAT of 20 percent ap-
plying to this business sector in com-
parison with two other possible
neighbouring countries, Harabinov
said. Subsequently, the investor
turnedhis attentionelsewhere.
Well-rootedinvestments
Harabinov lists Bekaert, the
largest Belgian investor in Slovakia,
as the primary example of a success-
ful expansion of a Belgian firm
alreadyoperatinginSlovakia.
Jozef Daniel, the general affairs
manager at Bekaert Slovakia, told
The Slovak Spectator that Bekaert
expanded its Sldkoviovo plant be-
cause the company had built an ex-
tensive customer base in the central
European region and that the com-
pany needed to respond to growing
demand.
In the view of the expected effi-
ciency and flexibility gains, Bekaert
decided to expand its production
platform in Sldkoviovo to serve all
customers, mainly from the tire
business, driven by the automotive
sector present in the region, Daniel
stated. Bekaert decided to extend
its production platform in
Sldkoviovo by a new unit manu-
facturinghalf-finishedproducts.
SeeWISHpg9
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Their wish list: more
legal transparency
and less bureaucracy
GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
BELGIUM
Belgiumand Slovakia have an
equilibriumin trade
Awish: more transparency and
less bureaucracy
FDI: Prospects for
Dutch investment
Continuedfrompg6
The Slovak Investment
and Trade Development
Agency (SARIO) is also posit-
ive about the prospects for
further Dutchinvestment.
We see prospects in the
sector of industrial produc-
tion but as well in the service
sector and especially in
launching shared service
centres, SARIOs spokesper-
son, Richard Drer, told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
Dutch investors have thus
far beenparticularlyactive in
the automotive and electro-
technical industries and
metal processing in Slovakia.
At the current time we are
working on five Dutch
projects with a total invest-
ment of 403 million which
have the potential to create
more than 2,500 new jobs.
These are projects in indus-
trial production as well as in
services.
SARIO has so far assisted
Dutch companies in estab-
lishing 13 successful projects
in Slovakia, including Leaf,
Semecs and Inalfa Roof Sys-
tems. These investments
amounted to 203 million
and had the potential to cre-
ate 2,500to 3,500jobs.
Recent investments
In the last year we have
seen three significant Dutch
investments: Semecs, manu-
facturing electronic panels in
Vrble; Van Doren Engineers,
manufacturing control panels
in Nitra; and last but not least,
the newest Dutchinvestment,
Inalfa Roof Systems, that pro-
duces roof systems for the
automotive industry in
Krakovany, Kellner told The
Slovak Spectator. These three
investments represent more
than 16 million altogether
and should create more than
260 newjobs.
Daoud also noted the im-
portance of the investment
by Inalfa Roof Systems. As
the TASR newswire reported
in May, the Dutch company
came to the village of
Krakovany, near Pieany in
westernSlovakia, last August
and four months later, in
December 2010, it launched
production. Investment into
the new plant exceeded 2
million and after reaching
full production it should em-
ploy 120 people, the SITA
newswire wrote.
They assemble highly-
advanced sunroofs for
trucks and cars of all
companies, Daoud said. It
is a very innovative com-
pany that has not hesitated
to change its products to
match developments in the
market. Almost 70 years ago
the company started produ-
cing knitting needles and
stoves; now they are market
leaders insunroofs. Innovat-
ive companies like these are
wonderful assets to the eco-
nomy of any country.
Morechanges desired
Many representatives of
the business community
have expected positive
changes in the business en-
vironment since the govern-
ment of Iveta Radiov took
power last year and this is the
case for the Dutch business
community as well. Accord-
ing to Daoud, Dutch firms ap-
preciate the governments ef-
forts to increase transparency
and improve the business en-
vironment, noting that
changes in the judicial sector
are particularly desired as
well as more flexibility in the
labour market.
Kellner noted that Dutch
entrepreneurs are primarily
concerned about four issues:
enforceability of the law, a
stable legal framework, a
more flexible Labour Code,
and a reduction in regulatory
and administrative burdens.
Although we positively
perceive the efforts of the
current government, these
four areas still continue to
offer room for further
changes, saidKellner.
Daoud also commented
that the governments ex-
tension of a ban on foreign-
ers purchasing Slovak farm-
land until 2014 has not
pleased Dutch business in-
terests.
The Netherlands was
disappointed that the Slov-
ak government, despite
promises it made, decided
at the last moment to ex-
tend the ban, Daoud said.
Several companies that
were interested ininvesting
in Slovakia were deterred
for this reason.
DB: Energy security is a European subject
Continuedfrompg6
These are not the internal
affairs of Slovakia but inter-
nationally recognised rights
and freedoms. I would say
that our letter was part of a
public debate that is actually
nowstarting here.
If we go back in the Neth-
erlands in the 1960s, I am
sure we would find that sim-
ilar concerns had emerged
there, but such debate is
simply part of the process
that a country goes through
in order to make the issue ac-
ceptable for the majority. At
the beginning this debate
always involves stereotypes
and fear of the unknown. For
example, the gay community
[in Slovakia] has been organ-
ising the Inakos movie fest-
ival every year, but I heard
that already last year one of
the feature films was shown
in a large cinema and it was
full-house. The other day I
heard someone ask: Are
there any homosexuals in
this country because we do
not hear about them? But
my answer would be that the
percentage is pretty much
the same as everywhere else,
we only do not hear about
them. The atmosphere is
still not open enough [in
Slovakia] for someone to say
I am gay. There are coun-
tries with openly gay politi-
cians and they no longer
make front-page news
simplyfor being gay.
TSS: In the welcoming
statement on the homepage
of your embassy you write
that you wish to inform
people about the Nether-
lands of the 21st century and
you mention things like
new ways of using sustain-
able energy and the worlds
first energy-generating
greenhouse. Since energy
securityis anurgent issue of
the 21st century, could you
share more details about
your countrys approach?
DB: Energy security is a
European subject, basically.
We have to make sure that we
have the right energy mix and
we will not get there by using
only renewable energy
sources. The only way to
achieve the goal is to use en-
ergy in a more frugal way: to
use less and preserve energy
inside and store it. In the
Netherlands, for instance,
houses are rated from A to F
based on their insulation ca-
pacity and the amount of en-
ergy you need to heat or cool
them. Some houses need addi-
tional investments in order
for them to be used. We have
rated cars from A to F as well,
based on their emissions and
different categories are sub-
ject to different taxing. We do
want to ensure that newly-
built houses are well insulated
while we also have some test
houses: people build self-suf-
ficient houses with solar pan-
els, roofs with small wind-
mills, with storage capacities
with an electric unit where it
is possible to charge an elec-
tric car. In the end, these
houses will be almost self-suf-
ficient and very well insu-
lated, so they will not lose the
heat that is inside.
Greenhouses in general
are one of our strengths. We
are still the No.1 European
agricultural exporter and a
relatively small percentage
of our land is used for agri-
culture with very high pro-
ductivity. Large amounts
come from greenhouses. The
concept, again, is that people
have found ways to retain
incoming heat so that it can
be used when needed. Also
some of our greenhouses are
built to utilise CO2 emissions
from power plants, which on
one hand helps the plants to
grow faster while the power
company can reduce CO2
emissions. It is a win-win
situation.
TSS: The rotating chair of
the Task Force for Interna-
tional Cooperation on Holo-
caust Education, Remem-
brance, and Research (ITF)
passed from Israel to the
Netherlands in March. Will
the Dutch leadership have
anyspecial focus?
DB: Slovakia is also a
member of the international
task force and each countrys
delegation usually consists of
officials from the ministry of
foreign affairs and also from
the ministry of education as
well as individuals who are
active in the field. It is a relat-
ively young organisation,
which started 10 years ago
with only nine members and
has grown into a 27-member
organisation, with an aim to
educate people about the
Holocaust and find ways to
make sure that these horrors
will always be remembered
and will never be repeated.
The focus of the Dutch chair-
manship is the Holocaust and
a question is whether other
genocides should also be in-
cluded. We are now at a kind
of crossroads within the or-
ganisation: 65 years after
World War II we are quickly
coming to the point when
most eyewitnesses are no
longer alive and we must
make sure that future genera-
tions are aware of what
happenedback then.
Countries that were not
victims of the Holocaust are
also nowinterested injoining.
These countries have gone
through atrocities of their
own. I understand that Serbia
has applied for membership,
which opens questions about
more recent developments in
Europe. Some northern coun-
tries inAfrica are interested in
membership as well. During
our chairmanship we are deal-
ing with these questions: Are
we going to expand the focus
of the organisation? If we are
going to talk about other gen-
ocides, there are going to be
some very interesting politic-
al debates. But it is also very
important that the overall re-
search and education com-
memorating this particularly
horrible part of history should
be kept alive.
Recently an exhibition
about Anne Frank has been
travelling in Slovakia and
other countries through
which students can learn
about her fate. Anne Frank is a
more accessible gate to a diffi-
cult subject since young
people of her age can more
easily identify with some of
her feelings. This should be
made part of the school cur-
ricula everywhere.
TSS: The Netherlands is an
important economic part-
ner for Slovakia. What are
some unexplored possibilit-
ies in business relations?
Which areas of the Slovak
economy are interesting for
Dutchinvestors?
DB: The Netherlands has
become number one in the
origin of foreign direct in-
vestments [in Slovakia] and
you get the better part of the
trade balance. Our strengths
are in water management
and we are frankly looking
into possibilities to do more
with this knowledge even in
the area of flood manage-
ment. This is one area where
we are seeing a possibility to
help out, considering the
past years [of flooding] in
Slovakia. The other area of
possible cooperation is en-
ergy: using waste to create
energy, for example, but also
efficient energy manage-
ment in the area of housing,
energy-efficient houses for
example. The Netherlands is
ready to share know-how in
its innovative technologies
in this area, including our
innovative greenhouses built
nearby power plants.
One other important
thing is that I am confident
that we can benefit from act-
ive policies of the Slovak gov-
ernment to promote transpar-
ency inall fields, be it publish-
ing tenders on the internet or
changes to the judiciary.
TSS: Since the birthday of
Queen Beatrix, three more
Slovaks have become co-
owners of a bench in the
Netherlands. Presumably, it
is not anyregular bench
DB: Among the co-owners
is Zuzana Wienk of the Fair-
Play Alliance, the political
ethics watchdog, because she
has been promoting transpar-
ency, which is good for the
investment climate and for-
eign investments. Oksana
Tomov, former Slovak am-
bassador to the Netherlands,
and Jana Raknyiov, pro-
fessor of Dutch language at
Comenius University, are also
new co-owners along with
former defence minister
Jaroslav Baka, who was first
to receive his certificate be-
cause of his close cooperation
with the Dutch forces in
Afghanistan. Then later Adam
Boch, the best translator of
Dutch literature into Slovak
and Abram Mller, a
Dutchman who is writing a
tourist guide for Slovakia for
the Dutch public, also joined
the ranks of bench co-own-
ers. All these people have
done something special to
promote Slovakia or the
Slovak-Dutch relationship
and they received a certific-
ate about their ownership of
part of the bench. The own-
ers, even if they never travel
in their lives to the Nether-
lands, will be able to see the
benchonthe internet.
TSS: In early June Bratislava
hosted the Design and Ar-
chitecture Days (DAAD)
which also featured Dutch
architects Hanspeter Oester
and Tanja Buijs. Your home-
land has a strong design and
architectural tradition and
the concept of sustainable
architecture is finding even
more attention. Could you
share some thought about
the Netherlands' architec-
tural tradition?
DB: If you think about
typical, traditional Dutch
design, you think about Rem-
brandt or about Van Gogh but
we also have a very strong
tradition in three-dimension-
al design where the main
philosophy is that this is an
art that you can use in your
everyday life. There are lead-
ing schools of design in the
Netherlands and we do have
some prominent modern ar-
chitects who have been set-
ting trends worldwide; just to
mention Rem Koolhaas, for
example, who designed our
countrys embassy in Berlin
and who says that architec-
ture is about freedom and
also about stubbornness,
both of which are strong
Dutchcharacteristics.
Greenhouses are aDutchstrength. Photo: JanaLiptkov
Slovakiabans the sale of farmlandtoforeigners. Photo: Sme
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
August 8 21, 2011
WL: Willing to share Benelux experience
Continuedfrompg7
TSS: Belgium has been try-
ing to form a government
since last June. Why is it so
complicated in your home-
land and how has this situ-
ation affected governing the
country?
WL: Our effort to form a
new government has up to
now been unsuccessful.
Firstly, Flanders voted right-
wing parties while the Wal-
loons cast their ballots for
left-wing parties, pursuing
different solutions. The
second reason is that our
electoral system is more pro-
portional than, for example,
that of the UK where the win-
ner takes it all. This is why all
our governments are coalition
governments, which must
have, aside from an overall
majority, also a majority both
in Flanders and Wallonia.
Thirdly, we have an evolu-
tionary federal state system
since the 1970s and about
every decade we need to ad-
just this system to newly cre-
ated equilibria and refine our
constitutional framework.
Yet, this is the time when we
have to do it. Probably more
power will go to the regions
and less to the federal state,
which is pushed for by the
Flemish voters who have a
majority in the country since
they make up more than 60
percent of the population.
Now we are seeking a model
which also would be accept-
able to French-speaking Bel-
gians. As you see the process
of forming a new government
in Belgiumtakes more than in
other countries.
That said, Belgium has a
caretaker government with a
majority in a working parlia-
ment. Regional and local gov-
ernments and institutions are
normally active, assuring the
countrys continuity. We
have managed the European
presidency in challenging
times, we participated as
among the first in joint NATO
and EU action in Libya and
our economic results are quite
good. All this proves that the
caretaker government is cer-
tainly not slumbering. Of
course, the situation is not
sustainable over the long
term, since the government is
unable to take the appropriate
measures on future reforms.
TSS: Belgium has had to
start dealing with issues of
immigration like the rest of
Western Europe. Observers
say that Slovakia should
prepare for an inflow of mi-
grants from less-developed
countries as well as it is be-
coming an attractive des-
tination. How can a country
prepare?
WL: Migration is not a na-
tional problembut a European
one which has its opportunit-
ies as well as its challenges.
Immigrants, Turks, Moroc-
cans and Algerians among
others, make up 10 percent of
Belgiums population. But in
fact, our first migrants were
not from North Africa, but
from Italy, Spain and Turkey
and they came because we
needed them since Belgium
needs a sufficient labour force
for its economy to sustain
growth, which after the world
wars simply was not there.
With an aging population in
our societies the challenge
still exists. However, to wel-
come immigrants Western
European countries have
gradually imposed condi-
tions: skills and knowledge,
willingness to integrate in our
societies, and a contribution
to our solidarity mechanisms.
This approach is gradually en-
tering the Europeanmind.
Through migration you
are creating a multi-cultural
society within your own
borders and as such there are
limits to that. These limits
have been overlooked for
many years and thus the
multicultural society itself
has created some additional
problems in countries where
it exists. In some Western
countries multiculturalism
has apparently failed and
there is a societal debate to
accommodate that situation.
I believe that we have to ad-
dress this issue at a
Europeanlevel.
TSS: Slovakia is a member of
the Visegrad Group, which
is currently trying to re-
define its position within
Europe. Are groupings such
as the Visegrad Group im-
portant within the EU? Can
you share the experience of
BelgiumwithinBenelux?
WL: Belgium, Luxem-
bourg and the Netherlands
are among the founding
fathers of the European Uni-
on. The Benelux cooperation
was, however, created earli-
er. It constituted the basis for
a remarkable involvement
and influence on the com-
mon European adventure by
three small countries lying
in the heart of Europe. Today
Benelux is far more than a
forum in which the three
countries European views
are coordinated. Benelux co-
operation has led to cross-
border cooperation between
the three countries in a mul-
titude of areas. Benelux
policies, such as Schengen,
have very often preceded a
Europeanapproach.
Benelux has a greater ex-
pertise with cross-border co-
operation than the Visegrad
Four. As I have told the Slov-
ak authorities, we are more
than willing to share our ex-
perience.
Compared to its size, my
country plays an important
role in the European Union.
We believe in Europes federal
finality and the use of the
communitarian method to
reach that goal. We are hon-
oured to host the European
institutions in which some of
our statesmen played, among
others, a prominent role.
How can a small country do
that? It is part of our tradi-
tion: we are consensus
makers, because Belgium en-
joys a high European credibil-
ity while having only limited
national interests.
TSS: Is Slovakia attractive
for Belgian investors?
Where do you see further
potential?
WL: We have been here
from the beginning and have
always believed that Slovakia
belongs to the European fam-
ily. Belgium established dip-
lomatic relations with Slov-
akia the day your state was
created and my first prede-
cessor arrived in Bratislava
in 1993. There are only about
400 Belgians living in Slov-
akia and about 200 of them
are registered here.
We have bilateral trade at
800 million a year and trade
is in equilibrium: we buy the
same amount from you as we
sell to you. We are selling
cars; the Volvos that you see
driving around are not only
coming from Sweden. We
sell you chemicals, metal
products, foodstuffs and
diamonds or chocolates for
the ladies. Belgians have in-
vested in limestone produc-
tion near Koice. Bekaert,
world-renowned for its steel
cord products has recently
expanded its plant near
Sldkoviovo. Two banks op-
erating in Slovakia, Dexia and
SOB, have Belgianorigins.
TSS: What do the two coun-
tries have in common? What
are the potential cultural
links betweenthe two?
WL: Slovakia and Belgium
share many parallels: our
countries have both lived un-
der foreign domination for
centuries. We both belonged,
at different ends, to the Habs-
burg Empire. Language has
played an important role in
the creation of independent
states. We are pleased today to
share with Slovakia a
European and an Atlantic
dream. Both our countries
have rich cultures and out-
standing artists.
At a federal level, I can en-
courage some cultural initiat-
ives but inour systemcultural
competence lies within the
regions. However, since I am
here, I have already seen
artists coming from all areas
and all regions of Belgium. I
saw Belgian artists at the cir-
cus festival Circulart. As for
classical arts, a Belgian group
participated in the Koice Mu-
sic Festival that was held in
May, playing Sephardic
Renaissance music. A Flemish
group will also attend the In-
ternational Theatre Festival
inNitra inSeptember.
SlovakiaandBelgiumshare many parallels. Photo: J. Liptkov
9
BUSINESS FOCUS
August 8 21, 2011
WISH: Less red tape
Continuedfrompg7
By maximising use of
the half-finished products,
the satellite plant in
Sldkoviovo has become a
standard manufacturing
platformthat canrespond to
the central Europeanmarket
demand and Bekaert cus-
tomers current and future
growth. Half-finished
products manufactured in
the newunit will be 100-per-
cent used for products made
inSlovakia, said Daniel.
Bekaerts investment
encompassed construction
of a newbuilding doubling
the original plant's size, the
installationof infrastructure
and state-of-the-art ma-
chinery, and hiring and
training one hundred addi-
tional employees, bringing
Bekaerts total employment
inSlovakia to over 2,150.
Bekaert produces a wide
variety of steel cord and steel
wire products incentral and
easternEurope and cur-
rently has two manufactur-
ing facilities inSlovakia, in
Hlohovec and Sldkoviovo.
Withregard to other up-
coming extensions,
Harabinov said that she is
aware of anupcoming ex-
tensionat the plant of Plas-
tiflex, a flexible hose sys-
temproducer and Aspel
Slovakia inKemarok,
whichproduces, assembles
and sells injection-moulded
plastic parts.
Awish: moretransparency,
less bureaucracy
After the government of
Iveta Radiov took power last
year, many representatives of
the business community ex-
pected positive changes inthe
business environment.
Harabinov noted that the
Belgianinvestors keep mov-
ing withincentral Europe be-
cause of several factors.
They usually do so
mainly because of their cus-
tomer bases and their needs,
the possibility of finding an
available and qualified labour
force, and last but not least
the transparency of the [eco-
nomic and political] system,
Harabinov stated. Fromthe
political and economic point
of viewSlovakia does remaina
stable country no matter
whether a left-wing or right-
wing government is inpower,
therefore Belgians have come
and they do continue to
come.
But Harabinov said the
Belgianbusiness community
does believe there is some
roomfor improvement and
specified that entrepreneurs
fromBelgiumwould appreci-
ate more aftercare from
SARIO, more transparency in
the legal system, and less bur-
eaucracy ingeneral.
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mo r e wi t h a Be l g i a n a u d i t o r &
a d v i s o r a t y o u r s i d e
MEDIA: Press protests against charges
Continuedfrompg1
Smeinsists that its journal-
ist should not be punished for
doing her job and the Slovak
branch of the International
Press Institute (IPI) andthe As-
sociation of Publishers of Peri-
odical Press have protested
that the charges against the re-
porter areunacceptable.
The police took action
against reporter Zuzana
Petkov, age 36, based on a
criminal complaint filed by
Harabin, who stated that his
wife Gabriela Harabinov was
only a normal employee of the
Justice Ministry and that in-
formation on her salary should
not have been published
without her consent. Now,
however, Harabin has called
the charges against the journ-
alist absurd and has directed
his wrath at representatives of
the Justice Ministry for releas-
ingthesalaryinformation.
Sme ran Petkovs story
on October 17, 2010 and the
information on Gabriela
Harabinovs salary was
provided by the Justice Min-
istry.
Charging a journalist for
doing her job and writing in-
formation in the public in-
terest is unfortunate and even
dangerous, said editor-in-chief
of Sme, Mat Kostoln, in a
videopublishedbythedaily.
Kostoln added that the
charges are particularly un-
fortunate because the police
did not even go after the right
person, since it is not the re-
porter who actually publishes
the information but rather
the editor-in-chief, and if ac-
tion was to be taken it should
have been against the pub-
lisher of the newspaper and
not thereporter.
Yet, we have only been
doing our job, Kostoln
stated, adding that last year
Sme reported after the change
in the government that the
wife of the former justice min-
ister and current head of Su-
preme Court, Harabin, hadleft
her job with the Justice Min-
istry. We asked under what
circumstances she had been
employed there, because the
then-minister and later head
of the Supreme Court, Hara-
bin, had shown several times
that he considered the judi-
ciarytobehisownfirm.
Kostoln stated it was
completelyappropriate for the
daily to ask about the em-
ployment circumstances of
Harabins wife, adding that he
believes thesituationwill now
take a different course and the
reporter will not face any pen-
altyfor doingher job.
The Supreme Court Office
released a statement by Hara-
binonAugust 1 stating that he
as a private individual filed
[the complaint] in the case of
an unlawful layoff and sub-
sequent scandalising".
The legal, political and
moral responsibility lies with
the political nominee and rep-
resentative of the Ministry of
Justice, Harabin continued in
the release. It is unbelievable
that someonewhohas theright
party membership card and ac-
quaintances inthegovernment
isabovethelaw.
Harabin recently stated
that the legal responsibility for
the release of the salary in-
formation lies with the Justice
Ministry rather than with the
journalist.
Kostoln told The Slovak
Spectator, however, that it was
Harabin who had filed the
criminal complaint and for
that reason he should be seen
as the germinator of this ab-
surd situation, adding that as
editor-in-chief he does not
want to see his daily dragged
into what has been an ongoing
battle between the Supreme
Court president andthe Justice
Ministry.
Lenka kropilov of the
Justice Ministrys press de-
partment told Sme that the
ministry had no reaction but
added that from the very mo-
ment the criminal complaint
was filed it has been an absurd
situation.
A statement released by IPI
Slovensko reacted that bring-
ing criminal charges against
the Sme reporter are unac-
ceptableinademocraticstate.
IPI wrote that rulings of the
European Court of Human
Rights have clearly specified
that if journalists are acting in
the public interest they are en-
titled to use personal informa-
tion about the people they are
reportingabout.
The focus of the article en-
titled Wife of Harabin had a
separate office was to uncover
the potential abuse of power by
a public official providing un-
justified advantages to his own
wife, IPI Slovensko states.
The author of the story defen-
ded the public interest by
pointing at abuse of power by a
publicofficial.
IPI Slovensko added that if
the executive and the judiciary
inSlovakia imagine reformand
cleansing of the police, prosec-
ution and judiciary in a way
that it will again be possible to
punish journalists for their
revelations and efforts to de-
fend the public interest then
the country is moving in the
wrongdirection.
Strasbourgoverrules
libel decision
Contemporaneously with
the controversy surrounding
the Sme journalist, the
European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg
issueda rulingsupportingone
of the other major publishers
in Slovakia. The European
court found that Slovak courts
had violated the publishers
right to freedomof expression
and information by ordering
that a correction be printed
and compensationbe paid to a
former vice-president of
SlovakiasPoliceCorps.
On July 26, a seven-judge
panel of the ECHR unanim-
ously overruled the Slovak
courts decision against Ring-
ier Axel Springer Slovakia, a
Bratislava-based multimedia
publishing company, citing a
failure by the Slovak courts to
examine whether the stories
were writteningoodfaithand
inaccordance withjournalist-
ic ethics, according to a re-
lease from the International
Press Institute(IPI).
Pavol Mdry of IPI Slov-
ensko said that his organisa-
tionwelcomes theStrasbourg
courts decision as a clear ex-
pression of guidance for Slov-
ak courts and great step for-
ward for the stabilisation of
press freedominthecountry.
The Slovak tabloid Nov
as, along with its internet
version, published a series of
articles in 1999 reporting on
an incident involving re-
portedly drunken public be-
haviour by two high-ranking
public officials: Jozef Petr, a
former police vice-president,
and Jn Slota, the chair of the
Slovak National Party.
Though the articles focused
mostly on the conduct of
Slota, Petr sued the
publishers predecessor com-
panyfor libel.
In 2003 the ilina District
Court ruled that Petr should
receive a printed apology and
a correction as well as 33,193
in damages. Ringier appealed
the verdict in 2004 and the
ilina Regional Court upheld
the ruling of the first instance
court but halved the damage
award to 16,569, according to
an official release from the
Ministryof Justice.
The publisher then turned
to the Constitutional Court,
which rejected its appeal on
March 16, 2005. Before the
Strasbourg court, the publish-
er argued that the libel trial
was unjust because the courts
had one-sidedly shown pref-
erence for the plaintiff and
had backed up the verdict
with contradictory argu-
ments while failing to respect
the equality of the defendant
before the court, the Justice
Ministrysreleasestates.
The ECHR concluded that
the Slovak courts had violated
Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights
and faulted a failure to assess
the level of public interest in
the articles or to balance it
against the interests of the in-
dividuals, according to the IPI
statement.
The IPI statement added
that the Strasbourg judges
found that even though the
Slovak courts had made refer-
ence to the journalists good
faith and the presence of a
public interest, they had
failed to take evidence, or
make an analysis, or draw
specific conclusions from
thesefactors.
The editorial roomof the Sme daily. Photo: Sme- P. kovi
ASYLUM: Slovakia
grants few applications
Continuedfrompg3
International protection
Giventhe instability
and fragile situationin
Somalia due to its ongoing
civil war and my coopera-
tionwithmigrationstaff, I
was confident that my
claimfor asylumwould be
approved, Abdi said.
Despite his hopefulness,
Abdi was not granted
asylumbut rather was
granted subsidiary protec-
tion, a lower formof inter-
national protection. Subsi-
diary protectionwas intro-
duced by the EUand im-
plemented into Slovak law
inJanuary 2007.
The ministrys Migra-
tionOffice is supposed to
grant subsidiary protection
to applicants to whomit did
not grant asylumif there
are good reasons to believe
that these applicants would
face a real risk of serious
harmif they returned to
their country of origin.
Subsidiary protectionis
granted for one year but can
be repeatedly renewed one
year at a time. It entitles its
holder to receive a tempor-
ary residence permit for the
durationof the subsidiary
protection. If the situation
inthe applicants home
country improves, Slovakia
canorder the personto be
sent home.
In2010 the Migration
Office granted subsidiary
protectionstatus to 57 indi-
viduals, 17 of whomwere
Somalis.
According to a recent
field study conducted by The
HumanRights League en-
titled The State of Integra-
tionof Foreigners withSub-
sidiary Protectioninto Soci-
ety many of those granted
subsidiary protectionrepor-
ted negative feelings about
the programme. The biggest
concerncited was the short
and uncertaindurationof
the programme, whichmade
it difficult for the migrants to
find long-termemployment.
The idea of working un-
der a permit that clearly in-
dicates your temporary
status, and being housed
withpeople of the same or
similar status onthe out-
skirts of Bratislava, creates a
feeling of segregationrather
thanintegration, said Abdi.
Aroleof non-profits
We should never forget
that these people came to
Slovakia to seek help,
stressed Milada imunkov,
who works for the Slovak
HumanitarianCouncil
(SHC). She met Abdi in
December 2010 whenshe
became his social worker
after he arrived fromthe
MigrationOffices asylum
facility inRohovce. SHCis a
national volunteer centre
whichassists socially-dis-
advantaged clients with
housing, financial assist-
ance, social and legal coun-
selling as well as training in
the Slovak language.
Individuals withsubsi-
diary protectionreceive 120
monthly to cover food and
pocket money. Their hous-
ing is provided free.
Some motivated clients
move out of the provided ac-
commodationwithinsix
months, find a job and do
not require any further
housing help, imunkov
said, but others are still
withus after a year.
Workingtointegrate
Abdis attendance at a
seminar inKoice where he
helped answer students
questions about refugees, his
cooperationinrunning a
Week of NewMinorities fest-
ival, and his enrolment at
Comenius University to earn
a degree ininternational re-
lations confirmhis determ-
inationto succeed.
WhenIOM, inpartner-
ship withMF, advertised an
internship opportunity as a
part of its Migrants inthe
Spotlight project to raise
public awareness, reduce
prejudices and stereotypes,
and create anopportunity for
better integrationof mi-
grants, Abdi applied. He met
all requirements and is cur-
rently finishing his intern-
ship at MF.
Throughthis project we
have provided a platformfor
migrants to demonstrate
their potential, said Oravec
of MF. Ajob is crucial in
the process of integration.
The internship has helped
Abdi to enhance his existing
work and social skills which
will enable himto succeed in
the labour market.
Oravec felt that provid-
ing aninternship opportun-
ity for Abdi was their obliga-
tionand responsibility. It
should never be forgotten
that many Slovak political
refugees fled fromSlovakia
during communismto save
themselves fromprosecu-
tionby the system, he said,
adding that westerncoun-
tries had provided them
withopportunities to begin
a newlife and supported
themthroughout that pro-
cess. By providing job and
social opportunities for
refugees inSlovakia we re-
pay our historic debt.
Because of his skills and
experience, Abdi has suc-
ceeded. He was recently
hired at one of the largest in-
ternational IT and consult-
ing services company in
Bratislava. He says that he
cannot wait to integrate
himself into the community.
Only nowamI starting
to feel a part of this society,
Abdi said.
The author wrote this story
as an intern at IOM, the Inter-
national Organization for Mi-
gration, at its office in Slovakia.
10
NEWS
August 8 21, 2011
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Taiko drums
enthral Slovaks
THE BUDAPEST-based Kiyo-
Kito Taiko group played in
Bratislava's Main Square on
July 30 to wind up the Japan-
ese Culture week hosted by
the Japanese Embassy in
Slovakia. The Slovak Spectat-
or spoke with Takaku Keijiro
fromthegroup.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
Why is a band playing tra-
ditional Japanese drums
basedinBudapest?
Takaku Keijiro (TK): The
band was founded in March
2000 in Budapest at the initi-
ative of a cultural centre,
Szintzis, and by Tams Paul-
inyi, and originally it dealt
with shamanic drums. But
after theymanufacturedabig
drum by themselves, they
saw a TV programme show-
ing traditional Japanese
Taiko drums and they found
out that they, infact, do have
a Taiko drum. They started
playing it. I studied Japanese
percussions at home, but I
was very fond of music since
my childhood and I came to
Hungary to study European
classical music and Hungari-
an folk music. I was fascin-
ated by the hurdy gurdy
(wheel fiddle) and my teacher
of this folklore Hungarian in-
strument told me about the
Taiko band and told them
about me and that I had stud-
iedit inJapan; thus I joined.
TSS: Can you tell us a little
about the history, func-
tion, and popularity of
Taikodrums?
TK: Originally, the big
drums were not meant for
public performance; they
were rather used in Shinto
and Buddhist temples and in
palaces of the Emperor and
noblemen. In the Edo period,
festivals spread widely, dan-
cing music, and so forth not
only among the aristocracy
but also among ordinary
people. Many instruments,
not only big drums, but also
smaller ones and metal per-
cussion instruments, were
used for the feasts and con-
certs. So in this way, Taiko
drums became part of the folk
tradition not the Noh
theatre, not the Kabuki
theatre, not Gagaku, but in
widespread public perform-
ances. After World War II,
some traditional drummers
started playing for stage per-
formances withmanydrums.
First, in the traditional mu-
sic, rather smaller ones were
used. But then ever bigger
drums were involved until
they became really huge.
Some of the traditional ways
of drumming included cho-
reography, the modern per-
formers started studying it
and this also helped it to
evolve into stage music, a
total stageperformance.
TSS: How do people outside
Japan learn to play and to
what extent can they learn
about thebackground?
TK: Basically, people
learn how to use sticks, to
play the drum; and
nowadays, you have CDs, a
lot of music on the internet,
in online shops and you can
watch YouTube. Most of the
traditional music is from Ja-
pan, as are the drums, but
you can even learn how to
make a drum yourself. Of
course, the best way to play it
is to go to Japan. And if you
want to really profoundly
study Japanese music, you
should live there. After
twenty, thirty years you will
be toldthat youareoneof us.
To read the full article,
please go to www.spectator.sk.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
Urban spaces in focus of
Dutch Bratislavanka
WHEN she came to Slovakia in
2005 Dutch photographer Illah
vanOijenplannedto stay only a
couple of years. But now, in
2011, after publishing two col-
lections of photographs as part
of her Human Landscapes
project, she is still hard at work
here capturing the changing
faces of Slovakcities andtowns.
While her first book, Bratislava
- Mesto na mieru published in
2007 has beensold out for years,
her latest effort, Koice dzivos
v srdci published earlier this
year, is verymuchavailable.
WhenI finishedtheBratis-
lava book I immediately per-
ceived from the reactions of
people, who were surprised by
my point of view, that this was
something that was
well-received, van Oijen told
The Slovak Spectator when ex-
plaining her decision to contin-
ueinmappingthelandscapes of
Slovak towns. People invited
me to their towns. First I inten-
ded to go to ilina, but when
Koice won the title European
Capital of Culture for 2013 I de-
cided that because all my
projects are about change that
this might be an interesting
timetogotoKoice.
She began the Koice
project in 2008 spending two
and half years on it but she
soon realised that she would
have to use a different ap-
proach in Koice than she did
inBratislava.
All the time I was inKoice
I lived with different people in
different quarters of the city so
I had a very different relation-
ship to Koice than to
Bratislava, she explained. In
Bratislava I lived in one place
and no matter where I went I
wouldalways comebacktothat
home. In Koice I never came
home. I was always going back
andforthtovarious friends. SoI
knowKoicequitewell but only
from the point of view of a vis-
itor, a Bratislavanka from
Netherlands who was photo-
graphing Koice. This really
definesmyKoicework.
As in the Bratislava book,
the book about Koice also con-
tains written essays that ex-
plore the city fromthree differ-
ent perspectives: Dutch writer
Tijs van den Boomen reflects
on the citys urbanism, Agda
Bavi Pain writes a micro his-
tory of one of the citys streets
and Gabriela Kisov looks at art
in the public spaces of Koice.
The latter two writers are
Koice natives, but no longer
livethere.
The book about Koice is a
continuation of van Oijens
project Human Landscapes
which concerns itself with the
character of urban public
spaces. Her concerns on this
subject perhaps stem from les-
sons learned in her native
country, the Netherlands. Be-
cause of the countrys high
density population and long
history of democracy the Neth-
erlands has traditionally been
known for its effective use of
public spaces. This, coupled
with van Oijens personal in-
terest in architecture, is prob-
ably the key to her deep sensit-
ivity to the manner in which
public spaces are utilised in
Slovakia.
And she believes that the
people hold the power in their
own hands to utilise public
spacestotheir best advantage.
Public space belongs to
citizens and unless they take
action, nothing will change.
The power is in people, she
said.
To encourage people to ex-
ercise their powers she helps to
organise a street market to be
heldat PanenskStreet inBrat-
islava on September 15, a
project organised by the civic
association OZ Punkt in co-
operation with the council of
theStarMestodistrict.
Our goal is to demonstrate
that streets are ours, that they
belong to everybody, she said.
Publicspaces belongtothecit-
izens. Thetaxesyoupayarethe
taxes to care for them, to make
sure that pavements are safe
andwell.
Apart from co-organising
the street market van Oijen is
currently busy with preparing
follow-ups of theKoiceproject
in the form of discussions and
exhibitions, but she has
already started working on an-
other project, this time about
ilina.
For now I am going away
but it does not mean that Im
leavingBratislavaforever, she
said. My goal is to create a
series of the humanlandscapes
of Slovakia; to map and think
about and look at how the pub-
lic spaces are working in Slov-
akia. I started with Bratislava,
then I worked on Koice and
nowI ammovingtoilina.
But her plans stretchmuch
further.
My big dream is to have,
once it is opened again, an ex-
hibition about Human Land-
scapes of Slovakia inthe Slovak
National Gallerys bridging ex-
hibition space designed by
Vladimr Dedeek, she said,
confirming her enthusiasmfor
Slovak Modernism architec-
ture, which she perceives as
deeply underappreciated by
Slovaks. That would be a
dream come true, because it is
such a beautiful exhibition
space, withperfect light.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Stanin square inKoice. Photo: IllahvanOijen
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11
FOCUS / CULTURE
August 8 21, 2011
Illah van Oijen
keeps mapping
the character of
public spaces in
Slovakia
The Szkelys of Sekule
WE HAVE learned only
slowly about the history of
the many villages in the
Zhorie region perhaps be-
cause the Hun-
garian kings
made Zhorie a
buffer zone
against raids
from beyond the
empires bor-
ders.
This whole region was
sparesly inhabited mostly by
barbarian tribes whose sole
task was to guard the borders.
This certainly applies to
the Szkelys who lived in
this village, Sekule. The
first official mention of
them appears as late as the
16th century but some re-
cords indicate the Szkelys
arrived much earlier.
Not much is known
about the origins of the
Szkelys. The name is at-
tached to Hungarians living
in the region of Szkely, an
ethno-cultural area in east-
ern Romanian Transylvania.
It is possible the
Szkelys arrived in Zhorie
some time around the be-
ginning of the Great Hun-
garian empire, as reports
mention them as guards of
border regions as early as
the 11th century.
The Szkelys also resided
in the Small Carpathians
within the territory of todays
Trstn. In all likelihood they
settled there to guard the road
leading through the Small
Carpathians to
Moravia.
The Szkelys
were not the only
non-Slovaks resid-
ing in Sekule. In
1634, Serbs were
reported to have lived in the
village, brought there from
the Balkans by the Bakis
family, the local squire. It is
likely that a good number of
Serbs lived in the village as
they built their own chapel.
In this postcard, we see
how Sekule looked in the
times of the Austro-Hungari-
an Empire.
By Branislav Chovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l LIVEMUSIC: Rock v mzeu
The Rock in Museum series
brings legendary rock drum-
mer Carl Palmer (of Emerson,
Lake & Palmer) and his power
trio S. Fitzpatrick and P.
Bielatowicz to the Bratislava
district of Podunajsk
Biskupice. Apart from this
concert, they will give only six
other performances inItaly.
Starts: August 10, 19:30;
Mzemobchodu, Linzbothova
16. Admission: 29. Tel: 02/
4524-3167 (also for ticket book-
ings); www.rockvmuzeu.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Il Divo
Four singers arrive in Slov-
akia, offering tunes in sever-
al languages. US tenor David
Miller, Spanish baritone Car-
los Marin, Swiss tenor Urs
Buehler and French pop-
singer Sbastien Izambard
will play in the romantic en-
vironment.
Starts: August 11, 20:20;
Courtyard of the Bratislava
Castle. Admission: 120-
220. Tel: 02/5293-3321;
www. ticketportal.sk, www.
ildivo.com.
Bratislava
l SUMMER EXERCISE:
Cvienie pod stromami Ex-
ercise under the Trees. In
summer, Bratislavans will be
able to try new forms of exer-
cise (Yoga, Pikala-Yoga, Tai-ti-
Juan and self-defence) in the
openair.
Starts: August 15, 18
(Yoga); August 11, 16, 18
(Pikala-Yoga); August 10, 11
(Tai-ti-Juan); August 22, 25
(Self-defence); Medical Gar-
den (Medick zhrada) public
park near Americk Square.
Admission: free. More info:
www.kamdomesta.sk.
Bratislava
l PHOTO-EXHIBITION: Miro
volk Vek ena mal Mu /
Big woman small man This
photo exhibition is only
loosely inspired by his ex-
hibiton last year. All cycles of
this exhibition are, however,
focused on the human body
and its details.
Open: Tue-Sun 13:00 18:00
until September 4; Central-
European House of Photo-
graphy, Prepotsk 4. Admis-
sion: 3. Tel: 02/5441-8214;
www. sedf.sk.
ervenKame
l ROMA FEAST: Cignsky
baavel / Gypsy Feast The
multi-cultural festival has
entered its second year, and
after the young Roma talents
go through a Summer Aca-
demy and prepare their pro-
gramme, they will show their
talent - which will also fea-
ture Cignski diabli, Kal from
Serbia, bands Bohmiens,
Therne have, Farsa Duo, per-
former Patrik igo and dance
ensembles Romathan, Dance
Masacre, Merci, and others.
Starts: August 13, 13:00-
late at night; erven Kame
castle near Modra. Admission:
6-8. Tel: 02/5244-4074;
www.divemaky.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
Sitno
l FOLKLORE FESTIVAL: Pod-
sitnianske dni hojnosti / Days
of Plenty under Sitno The
municipality of Prenov offers
its annual folklore festival
whichtakes place fromJuly to
August, always intwo to three
villages. This 11th year of the
festival called V Prenove na
rnku will feature home-made
food delicacies, folk music,
dancing and traditional crafts
including metal work and a
display of old works that are
seldom seen anymore. The
festival will end with dance
music until the wee hours of
Sunday.
Starts: August 13, 13:00-
very late; Prenov centre.
Admission: 2. More info:
www.prencov.ocu.sk.
Terchov
l SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL:
Terchovsk budzog
Terchov Mace Open-air
music festival, this time fea-
turing names like Olympic,
Desmod, Tublatanka, In
Kafe, Citron, Kabt, Horke
sle, and others.
Starts: August 12-14,
16:00-late; Nad Brami am-
phitheatre. Admission: 15
(for one day, Friday and
Sunday) - 20 (for all three
days). Tel: 02/5293-3321;
www. ticketportal.sk, www.
budzogan.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Snina
l SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL:
Rock pod kameom - Rock
under the Rock Snina Open
Air Festival in its 9th year
shows performers like Mike
Terrana, Guano Apes, Edguy,
Sonata Arctica, In Kafe,
Witch Hammer, Karpina and
others.
Starts: August 12-13, 13:00
-late; Sninsk Rybnky. Ad-
mission: 16 (one day) - 20.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk,
www.rockpodkamenom.sk.
Betliar
l MUSEUM/EXHIBITION:
Porceln aristokracie China
of the Aristocracy One of the
largest collections of Herend
china to be seen outside its
home country of Hungary
shows not just cups and sau-
cers, but also cutlery with
china handles, inkpots, um-
brella handles, playing cards,
and many more artefacts of
aristocratic life.
Open: Tue-Sun 9:30-17:30
until September 20; Mzeum
Betliar, Katiena 6. Admis-
sion: 4-6. Tel: 058/7983-118;
www.snm.sk.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
THE LESN kino Horre (Forest Cinema House) organises a
small bring-and-buy sale every Saturday and on August 13 it will
host a big garage sale combined with a second-hand book sale.
Items should be in good condition and preferably be ones that
cannot normally be purchased in stores. Beginning from 10:00,
at the Forest House in Horsk Park in Bratislava, people can visit
to buy or sell, or just to watch the bustle. For more info, please
gotowww.kamdomesta.sk, or www.horaren.sk. Photo: SITA
AT THE PovadloLake near Bansktiavnica, a competitionof
bizarre vessels Utopenec (The Drowned) takes place on August
14 from 11:00. It includes races of unusual vessels (meaning any-
thing that floats), water bicycles, a fashion show, water battles,
a Dragon ship, and performances by Angelika4, Romano Ilo,
ukar divipen, Everest, and others. For more info, please call
0910/958-867 or go to www.banskastiavnica.sk, or
www.mladezbs.sk. Photo: Michal Kr
12
CULTURE
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks 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 Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y A U G U S T 2 0 1 1
Monday
Oskar
August 8
Tuesday
ubomra
August 9
Wednesday
Vavrinec
August 10
Thursday
Zuzana
August 11
Friday
Darina
August 12
Saturday
ubomr
August 13
Sunday
Mojmr
August 14
Absorbing Japanese culture
in a very short week
THE LAST week in July
offered quite a number of var-
ied cultural events and enter-
tainment in Bratislava and
anyone who picked this week
for their summer holiday
missed a lot. The Japanese
Embassy in Slovakia chose
the week from July 25 to July
31 for a concentrated present-
ation of Japanese culture and
traditions. Although it first
seemed that the week would
be affected by Slovakias in-
clement weather most of
the events were held out-
doors everything turned out
quite well as if Mother
Nature wanted to show a
moremerciful face.
On July 25 and 26, the
embassys chef, Shoichi Sato,
taught visitors how to pre-
pare and display Japanese
cuisine. July 27 was marked
by the playful side of Japan-
ese culture as there were
workshops on the traditional
paper-folding art of origami
as well as a special type of Ja-
panese chess called Shogi
offered on Bratislavas Main
Square, outside the embassy.
The workshops were primar-
ily led by Slovaks, with
Jaroslav Jaro teaching about
origami and members of the
Slovak Shogi Association
teaching the Japanese chess
game, both of which attrac-
ted not only children but also
a surprisingly large number
of playful adults.
Chef Sato later showed his
skills and firm hand while
sculpting two swans fromice.
Both were true to the original
design sketched on a sheet of
paper but unfortunately the
first graceful ice- bird grew
fragile because of the heat and
its neck broke during its final
transport and positioning.
Nevertheless, the ice sculp-
tures were admiringly intact
considering that sunshine
had finally emerged after a
spell of rainyandcolddays.
Lucia and Marcos Shim-
abukuro taught Slovaks to
play the traditional Shamisen
musical instrument on July
28 and on the next day Luk
Vyletel presented another
traditional Japanese game,
Go, at a workshop in the em-
bassy. On Saturday, the Main
Square literally seethed with
Japanese culture, with Somei
Fuehrmann presenting a tra-
ditional Japanese tea cere-
mony, Shogi being taught
once again, and the evening
ending with the exotic and
powerful music of Taiko
drums presented on stage by
the Kiyo-Kito Taiko band
fromBudapest. The week fin-
ished off with the concert of
classical music performed by
pianist Motoki Hirai, a suc-
cessful composer. A photo
exhibitioncalledKyoto, offer-
ing a selection of works from
the Japan Foundations col-
lection remained on display
until August 5 for fans of Ja-
panese landscapes, architec-
tureandhistory.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
August 8 21, 2011
Sculptingaswan. Photo: Sme

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