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Fico: Brown Plague Coming from Hungarian Parliament

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico described the statements of Hungarian MPs during the discussions concerning the amendment to the Dual Citizenship Act concerning ethnic Hungarians living outside the country as "atrocious talk", and he said Slovakia has to deal with the Hungarian MPs as well as deal with the amendment itself. "How should Slovakia… read more

Gay Pride March Organisers Condemn Politicians\' Silence

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - Romana Schlesinger, organiser of the Rainbow Pride gay parade in Bratislava at the weekend, accused Interior Minister Robert Kalinak of not telling the truth on TV Markiza's programme "Na telo" when he said that the organisers themselves chose to cancel the original route of the march through the Old Town area. Conversely, she said, the police… read more

SaS Urges Government to Factor Loans to State Companies Into Deficit

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - Non-parliamentary party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) on Monday expressed concern that Slovakia's public finance deficit for 2009 was actually well in excess of the figure announced by European Union (EU) and Slovak statistics offices in April (6.8 percent), as the loans granted to state-run entities weren't factored into the figures as extra expenditures.… read more

Radicova Calls on Fico to Attend Round-table Discussion on Hot Issues

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - The main opposition SDKU-DS party has called on Prime Minister Robert Fico to attend a round-table discussion to deal with key problems in Slovakia, SDKU election leader Iveta Radicova said at a press conference on Monday. "The time has come to stop to cover the real problems of the country, and openly exchange opinions, stances and solutions,… read more

Injured by Banks Association Delays Blockade of Banks in Bratislava

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - A civil association called Injured by Banks has decided to postpone its planned blockade of the headquarters of Vseobecna uverova banka (VUB), Slovenska sporitelna (SLSP) and Ceskoslovenska obchodna banka (CSOB) in Bratislava that was supposed to take place on Monday, association spokesman Andrej Kulaviak said on the same day. Injured by Banks… read more

SaS: Fico Should Withdraw From Smer Slate Over Shady Funding

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - Chairman of the extra-parliamentary Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Richard Sulik on Monday called for Prime Minister Robert Fico to take his name off the Smer-SD slate for the general election on June 12 over the suspicious funding of his party. "We'd want to remind people that (SDKU-DS chairman) Mikulas Dzurinda renounced his place on… read more

Paska: Extraordinary Session on Dual Citizenship to Be Held on Tuesday

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - An extraordinary parliamentary session to discuss Hungary's proposed amendment to the Dual Citizenship Act concerning ethnic Hungarians living outside the country will take place on Tuesday starting from 11 a.m., Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paska announced on Monday. Speaking after a Coalition Council session, Paska added that all three governing-coalition… read more

Janis Slams Transport Ministry, Vazny Takes Different View

Bratislava, May 23(TASR) - As the polling day of June 12 draws near in Slovakia, the Government and Opposition are crossing swords over the work of government ministries such as the one in charge of the transport sector. Opposition SDKU-DS party lawmaker Stanislav Janis claims that motorway-building projects via private-public partnerships (PPPs) are overpriced by €1… read more

SMK: To Grant Dual Citizenship Is to Recognise Human Rights

Bratislava, May 23 (TASR) - The ethnic-Hungarian SMK party views the act of granting second citizenship as an act of recognition of the human right to claim dual identity in terms of being a citizen, SMK spokesperson Eva Dunajska told TASR on Sunday. According to SMK, emphasizing that counter-measures might be taken in response to Hungary's plans to adopt an amendment… read more

Political Analysts Describe Party Electioneering So Far as Low-key

Bratislava, May 23 (TASR) - Leading political analysts concur that the pre-election activities of the country's mainstream political parties, which on Saturday began the official campaign prior to polling day on June 12, have so far been rather low-key apart from those of the strongest ruling party Smer-SD. While the Slovak National Party (SNS) is more noticeable for… read more

Survey: Consumers in Slovakia Still Largely Pessimistic About Prices

Bratislava, May 23 (TASR) - Two out of three Slovak citizens are convinced that the country's economic situation has worsened over the past 12 months, although the number of pessimists has fallen by 17 percentage points on the year, according to the latest Consumer Barometer issued by the Slovak Stats Office that the Government is due to examine at its next session on Wednesday,… read more

Interior Minister Praises Police for Being Prepared for Gay Pride Parade

(TV Markiza, May 23, 'Na Telo') Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, speaking on TV Markiza's 'Na Telo' weekly politics programme on Sunday, praised the police as being well prepared for Slovakia's first-ever gay and lesbian parade, which began under the name Rainbow Pride on Hviezdoslavovo Square in Bratislava a day earlier. The police are responsible for law and… read more

Kalinak: Recent Comments in Hungarian Parliament Are Dangerous

(TV Markiza, May 23, 'Na Telo') According to Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), statements that could be heard in the Hungarian Parliament over the past week in the debate on the proposed dual-citizenship amendment are exceptionally dangerous. "Those statements are intimidating," said the minister on TV Markiza's politics show 'Na Telo' on Sunday, referring… read more

Euro Exchange Rates

European Central Bank Euro exchange rates valid until the new exchange-rates list is published on May 24, 2010. Currency Country Rate USD United States 1.2497 JPY Japan 112.08 CZK Czech Republic 25.917 GBP United Kingdom 0.87035 HUF Hungary 281.33 PLN Poland 4.1530 CHF Switzerland 1.4408 RUB Russia 39.0459… read more

Radicova Calls on Figel to Show \'Manly Attitude\' (UPDATE)

Skalica, May 22 (TASR) - Re-ignition of Slovakia's economy, getting rid of arrogance in politics, and installing responsible governance bringing positive results for citizens - those are the key priorities of SDKU-DS, currently the strongest opposition party, for the next election term, according to SDKU election leader Iveta Radicova, speaking at a session of her party's central… read more