SLOVAKIA

General information: The Slovak Republic is in located central Europe, bordered by Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Area: 49,036 square kilometres. The territory is subdivided into 8 regions. The capital is Bratislava with a population of 462,000. The largest cities include Kosice (240,000), Presov (91,000), Zilina (81,500) and Banska Bystrica (80,000).

Population: 5.4 million. Slovakia is a multiethnic country. According to the results of the 2011 census, Slovaks make up 80.7 percent of the population (a 5 percent decrease compared with 2001), with 8.5 percent Hungarians, 2 percent Roma and 0.6 percent Czechs. Other national minorities, such as Rusyns, Ukrainians, Poles and Croats, live in various parts of the country, accounting for around 2 percent of Slovakia’s residents. The nationality of 6.2 percent of the population is unspecified.

Official language: Slovak.

Currency: Euro (since January 1, 2009).

Slovakia is a member of the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, OECD and WTO. Since 2004, it is in the EU and NATO.

National holidays:

1 January: Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic;

5 July: St Cyril and Methodius Day

29 August: Slovak National Uprising anniversary

1 September: Day of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic

17 November: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day;

Brief history: By the beginning of the 9^th century, Great Moravia emerged in the area that is now the territory of Slovakia. From the end of the 10^th century, the land of Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, then a section of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. After the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, the Czechoslovak Republic was formed.

After the Munich Agreement and forming of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which took place in 1939, a clerical fascist regime was established in Slovakia, led by Josef Tiso, who turned the country into a Third Reich puppet state. As a result of the First Vienna Award, Southern Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Region were occupied by Hungary.

The Slovak National Uprising played a major role in pushing the clerical fascist regime out of the country. The Red Army assisted from September 1944, and on April 4, 1945, it liberated the country’s capital, Bratislava. Over 60,000 Soviet soldiers and military officers were killed fighting for Slovakia’s freedom.

After World War II, in accordance with the orders of the Czechoslovak government, called Benes’ Decrees, over 75,000 Hungarians had been forcibly evicted from Slovakia. All of them lost their Czechoslovakian citizenship and property.

Between 1948 and 1989, Czechoslovakia was ruled by the National Front headed by communists. In 1968, the Czechoslovak Republic became a federation consisting of two republics, including the Slovak Republic. After the Velvet Revolution, which took place in November 1989, the tendency to break away kept growing in Czechoslovakia. On January 1, 1993, the Slovak Republic became an independent state.

Political system: Slovakia is a parliamentary republic. According to the Constitution of 1992, the country’s highest legislative body is the National Council of the Slovak Republic (NC SR). It consists of 150 members, which are elected for a four-year term. As a result of the latest parliamentary election held on March 5, 2016, the NC SR is now composed of the following parties: Direction – Social Democracy; Freedom and Solidarity; Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OlaNO-NOVA); Slovak National Party; People’s Party Our Slovakia; Boris Kollar’s We Are Family; and Most-Hid. The Network party was expected to become a part of NC SR as well, but it disintegrated after a short period of time. The current speaker of the NC SR is Andrej Danko, chairman of the Slovak National Party. There are 19 standing committees in the NC SR.

Executive power: According to the Slovak Constitution, the executive power branch is represented by the President and the Government of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak President is the head of state. Since 1999, the President has been elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. In March 2014, an independent candidate, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrej Kiska, was elected as President. His inauguration was held on June 15, 2014. The President also performs the functions of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, represents Slovakia internationally, signs laws and international agreements, appoints and recalls ambassadors, appoints and dismisses the prime minister, members of the government and other prominent public officials (upon the recommendation of the NC SR), declares martial law (at the suggestion of the government), declares war (upon the decision by parliament), state of emergency (based on law), and announces referendums. The President can be recalled by universal suffrage announced by the Parliament Speaker on the  decision of the NC SR. In order to make such a decision, the NC SR needs approval of the qualified majority of parliament members.

The Government is the country’s highest executive body. It is responsible to the parliament, and in case of vote of no confidence, it can be dismissed by the President. The Government’s decisions are adopted by a simple majority of present members.

On March 23, 2016, a coalition Government was formed, headed by Robert Fico, the leader of the Direction – Social Democracy party.

The judiciary is represented by the Constitutional Court of Slovakia (headed by Ivetta Macejkova), the Supreme Court (headed by Daniela Svecova) and general jurisdiction courts.

Civil society associations and organisations: There are over 20,000 non-government organisations and civil society associations registered in Slovakia, working in cultural and educational, charity, youth, environmental and human rights spheres. Their funding, apart from membership fees and private donations, mainly comes from governmental grants and foreign sponsors.

The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic brings together 28 sectoral trade unions of about 360,000 members. The current president is Josef Kollar.

The Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia, (which comprises   more than 2700 population centres), and  the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by Peter Mihok, are the most highly respected and authoritative civil associations in the country. The Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters plays a significant role in the life of society as well.

Church: According to the results of the 2011 population census, 62 percent of Slovaks identify themselves as Roman Catholics, 5.9 percent as Protestants, 3.8 as Greek Catholics (Uniates), 1.8 percent as Reformed and 0.9 as Orthodox. There is no separation between the Church and the State; the Church is financed through the state budget.

The Roman Catholic Church has the most influence in the republic. It is headed by Stanislav Zvolensky, the president of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bratislava. The special status of the Church is set out in the Vatican’s concordat of 2000. The Roman Catholic Church seeks to actively take positions on a number of current issues concerning Slovakia’s foreign policy.

The Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church is headed by the Archbishop of Presov and Slovakia, Metropolitan Archbishop Rastislav.

The headquarters of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church are in Presov. The Church is headed by Archbishop and Metropolitan Jan Babjak.

Economy: Slovakia is a moderately developed industrial and agricultural country. The industrial sector accounts for about 30 percent of GDP; trade, hotels, restaurants and transport make up  26 percent, the financial sector,17 percent, and the services sector, 15 percent. The share of the agricultural sector is gradually decreasing; today it accounts for no more than 3 percent of the GDP. GDP per capita is €11,600, which ranks Slovakia in the 20^th place among the EU countries.

According to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, as of 2016,  GDP growth was 3.2 percent (compared with 2.9 percent in 2014 and 3.5 percent in 2015). GDP was estimated at €79.2 billion, and inflation was  practically zero (compared with -0.3 percent in 2015).

Slovakia’s major trade partners are the EU countries. They account for over 80 percent of exports and 65 percent of imports. The main foreign partners of Slovakia in Europe are: Germany (over 20 percent exports); the Czech Republic (about 13 percent exports); and Poland, Hungary, Austria and France.

As of 2016, an average salary in Slovakia was €889. The average unemployment rate is 9.4 percent (compared with 12.8 percent in 2014, 13.5 percent in 2013, 14.4 percent in 2012 and 10.63 percent in 2015).

Education and culture: Slovakia has a developed network of public educational institutions, providing free education at all levels. There are 41 higher educational institutions in the country (23 state, 13 private and 5 foreign). Russian language remains the third popular language at Slovak schools and universities (after English and German). In the 2014/15 academic year, 75,476 students were learning Russian at 710 primary and secondary schools. The most popular school in this list is the Albert Einstein State Bilingual Gymnasium in Bratislava. The Slovak Academy of Sciences comprises over 53 research institutes and laboratories. The current president of the Slovak Academy of Sciences is Pavol Sajgalik.

Slovakia has over 20 professional theatres, dozens of museums and art galleries, several symphony orchestras and an extensive number of libraries and folk ensembles.

With its rich nature, landmarks, and a developed network of hotels and sports facilities, Slovakia is a prime international tourism destination.

Media: Daily newspapers Nový Čas (about 110,000 copies), Plus JEDEN DEŇ (about 50,000 copies), SME (about 50,000 copies), Pravda (about 55,000 copies) and Hospodárske Noviny (about 15,000 copies) are the newspapers with the largest circulation in Slovakia. The country also has a number of regional newspapers and magazines. Most of the printed media is owned by Western capital. Electronic media, is becoming increasingly popular. The largest of them  are the TASR and SITA news agencies, and teraz.sk and aktuality.sk news portals. In 2015, hlavnespravy.sk news portal, which positions itself as an independent media source offering objective information to its readers on various issues, (including Russia-related matters), expanded its audience significantly.

Radio and Television of Slovakia, which was created in 2011 following a merger of Slovak television and Radio, is the largest media holding in the country. The current head is Vaclav Mika. There are two public national television channels, and many commercial national television channels, such as ТА-3, Markíza and JOJ. There are dozens of programmes of different countries’ telecentres available on cable networks, including the international version of Russian Channel One. Since 2009, Russian-language magazine Vmeste (Together),  is regularly published (total circulation – 300 copies).

For the past several years, the Internet has been actively developing in the country as well. Over 90 percent of the population has access to the Internet. Almost all public authorities and local media have their own web pages.

Foreign policy: Slovakia actively participates in the development of EU consolidated positions concerning a wide range of foreign policy issues and actively advocates them in bilateral dialogues with other countries and at international organisations. Bratislava supports further institutional strengthening of the EU, including banking and energy sectors. It is seeking to contribute to strengthening common foreign policy, security and defence (CFSP and CSDP) and enhancing the EU’s activity in the area of international crisis management. Bratislava also supports the EU enlargement process. In the context of the EU migration crisis, Slovakia stands against mandatory migrant relocation quotas. Bratislava is committed to strengthening trans-Atlantic ties and supports the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the EU and the United States. In the second half of 2016, Slovakia presided over the EU Council.

Slovakia believes NATO is the main guarantor of national and common European security and participates in the process aimed at increasing the efficiency of the organisation, focusing on its internal transformation and the development of the so-called Smart Defence concept. Bratislava is increasing defence spending and is ready to host the Alliance’s infrastructure on its territory. Bratislava actively participates in NATO international missions, supports an open-door policy and favours expanding the responsibility of NATO.

Within the framework of the OSCE, Slovakia is seeking to develop  multidirectional political dialogue on security issues with countries that are not part of the EU or Euro-Atlantic organisations, primarily, with Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries. When it comes to the so-called frozen conflicts within the former Soviet Union, Bratislava stands in favour of the “territorial integrity” of Georgia, defining the status of the self-proclaimed Transnistria republic within Moldova, and promoting the Nagorny Karabakh peace process within the OSCE Minsk Group.

Slovakia is a member of OECD, WTO and other international organisations. The Slovak Republic maintains diplomatic and consular relations with almost 200 countries of the world. There are 140 foreign embassies accredited in Slovakia (47 of them – in Bratislava). There also are two Consulates General, an Office of European Commission, information centres of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, a regional UNDP office and an office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as WHO and EBRD representative offices. The headquarters of the International Visegrad Fund are located in Bratislava.