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Radicova to Meet Orban After V4 Summit in Budapest

Budapest/Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - Evaluating the completed Hungarian presidency of the Visegrad Four grouping (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland) and approving the new programme of the Slovak presidency (July 2010-June 2011) will be the main topics of a meeting of V4 premiers in Budapest on Tuesday, the Slovak Government Office press department told TASR on… read more

Dzurinda Refusing to Confirm or Deny Bid to Remain SDKU Chairman

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - It remains unclear who will lead SDKU-DS after the next party congress, as Prime Minister Iveta Radicova and Finance Minister Ivan Miklos have both told SME daily that they won't run for the party chairmanship and current SDKU chair Mikulas Dzurinda hasn't offered any comments. "I'm interested in serving as best I can in the role of Foreign… read more

Three Former Guantanamo Detainees to Become Slovak Residents Soon

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - The three former Guantanamo Bay inmates currently being held in a detention camp in Medvedov (Trnava region) will be granted permanent residence in Slovakia so they can enjoy the country's protection, TASR learnt on Monday. The procedure should be officially handled by the Interior Ministry's migration office. The former army-base detainees… read more

SDKU Presidency Okays Mitrik as Candidate to Head SIS

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - Former MP and current mayor of Spisska Nova Ves (Kosice region) Karol Mitrik has been selected as the candidate of the strongest coalition party SDKU-DS for the post of director of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), the party presidency decided unanimously on Monday. Mitrik's nomination was proposed by Prime Minister Iveta Radicova (SDKU).… read more

Radicova and Necas: Stability in Central Europe Necessary for Economy

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - Stability and co-operation in Central Europe is important in terms of coping with the effects of the economic crisis and strengthening the eurozone, said Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova during talks with her Czech counterpart Petr Necas on Monday. Radicova ahead of her visit to Budapest on Tuesday further said that any bilateral tensions… read more

Jaroslav Spisiak Appointed as New Police Corps President (UPDATE)

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic (Christian Democratic Movement/KDH) on Monday appointed former police vice-president Jaroslav Spisiak (2001-06) as the new Police Corps president. Lipsic explained his decision to appoint Spisiak by saying that "results have always been seen in his work". Speaking about the police's priorities, Lipsic highlighted… read more

Political Parties Spend €6-million Plus on Campaign Funding

Bratislava, July 18 (TASR) - Eighteen political parties running for Slovakia's parliament in the 2010 election last month spent a total of some €6,235,000 on the campaign, show the parties' preliminary reports filed with the Finance Ministry, which has published them online at www.mfsr.sk. The ministry's website further reveals the Slovak National Party (SNS), the… read more

Matovic: Referendum Turnout Won\'t Exceed 15 Percent

Bratislava, July 18 (TASR) - Even though many people vow to take part in the September 18 referendum, laziness will eventually prevail, MP representing Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Igor Matovic told TASR on Sunday. "I'm certain that the turnout won't exceed 15 percent, with such a figure actually being a great success," said Matovic, (elected as a member of 'Ordinary… read more

Vozar Says MPs Cannot Be Forced to Approve Laws According to Referendum

Bratislava, July 17 (TASR) - Constitutional lawyers deny claims made by their colleagues on behalf of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party that the results of a referendum are binding on lawmakers who should vote in favour of laws which put in practice such referendum goals. The referendum which was declared by president for September 18 at the instigation of SaS features… read more

Slovakia Officially Requests Relief from EU for Flood-stricken Areas

Brussels, July 16 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia on Friday afternoon officially requested relief from the EU's Solidarity Fund for areas hit by the floods in late May and early June, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn's spokesman Ton van Lierop said on the same day. "A period of evaluation will follow, during which experts will evaluate how justified the… read more

President: SaS Desperately Looking for Excuse for Useless Referendum

Bratislava, July 16 (TASR) - The coalition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is desperately looking for an excuse for its meaningless and expensive referendum (September 18) that isn't even backed by its coalition partners, President Ivan Gasparovic's spokesman Marek Trubac told TASR on Friday. Trubac was reacting to claims by member of the referendum petition committee… read more

SaS: Referendum Results Are Binding, President Was Wrong

Bratislava, July 16 (TASR) - The results of a referendums are binding and have to be proclaimed in the same way as a law, said representatives of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party on Friday, rejecting President Ivan Gasparovic's opinion that MPs aren't obliged to respond. Robert Mistrik, member of the SaS petition committee that collected signatures for an SaS referendum… read more

Czech Premier\'s First Official Trip Will Be to Slovakia

Bratislava, July 16 (TASR) - Slovakia will be the first country that New Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas will officially visit after his appointment, with the date set for Monday, July 19, TASR learnt on Friday. In Bratislava, Necas will meet his Slovak opposite number Iveta Radicova, who has announced that the two premiers will then set off for Budapest, where a summit… read more

Radicova Planning to Abolish Unuseful Proxies and Introduce New Ones

Bratislava, July 16 (TASR) - Prime Minister Iveta Radicova told journalists at an informal meeting on Thursday evening that she's planning to do away with government proxies whose activities don't hold great importance, introducing new, more useful posts instead. According to Radicova, the changes will certainly not concern the government proxy for the Roma communities,… read more

Horsky: Proposal on Cutting MPs\' Immunity May Be Mere Populism

Bratislava, July 15 (TASR) - Only if Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's constitutional law proposal on restricting an MP's immunity gains certain support in advance from the Opposition is it viable, political analyst Michal Horsky told TASR on Thursday. "If it is submitted to Parliament without preliminary agreement with the Opposition and without a wide-ranging public… read more