When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Slovakia

Society

Bears! The Issue Sneaking Up On Slovakia's Campaign Trail

Slovakian elections set for later this month have been shifting towards an unexpected issue. Bears have been threatening people living near the Tatra Mountains, and how to respond has been dividing politicians.

BRATISLAVA — Slovaks will be going to the polls to select a new parliament on September 30. Among other issues, they will be deciding the fate of the country’s bear populations, which have recently become one of their major political topics. A portion of these animals live along the Polish-Slovakian border.

The growing population of bears in Slovakia and worries about potential attacks on humans have now been addressed by senior politicians. These include not only parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, but also members of the government and even the Slovakian President, Zuzana Czaputova. Czaputova, a well-known environmentalist, has been especially outspoken on the matter.

When a female bear jumped out of a thick bush at a man near the village of Sučany in northern Slovakia while he was out walking his dog, he began to fear for his life. Using a legally held gun, he shot at the bear several times, which killed her. In a second publicized incident that day, a jogger near Liptovsky Hradok reported a bear attack, and had to be hospitalized with an injured shoulder and an open wound on his calf. A few hours later, a forest worker fell victim to a bear attack near the south Slovak village of Drienovo, and was forced to defend himself with a weapon held in his hand.

More incidents involving bear attacks took place in just these 24 hours in mid-July than in the entire year, bringing the total number of bear attacks in Slovakia to eight. This caused widespread public outcry, with social media being almost immediately flooded with videos and photos depicting bear encounters not only in the rural wilderness, but also in villages and cities. The bears are typically unafraid of humans while they forage for food, reports Zprawy Aktualne, and they can often be seen in residents’ backyards. Last year, a bear even made its way into a hotel in the High Tatras, a known tourist destination.

“The situation is serious,” said Environment Minister Milan Chrenko.

Watch VideoShow less

This Happened — August 20: Warsaw Pact Troops Invade Czechoslovakia

The Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia on this day in 1968.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.


Keep reading...Show less

In Slovakia, Snap Elections Called As Pro-Russia Sentiment Is Spreading

Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, saw liberal President Zuzana Čaputová's confirmation that she will not seek re-election, in part because of threats against her tough stance on Russia's invasion. How will the war shape the future direction of Slovakian politics, and vice-versa?

As Slovakia prepares for early elections on Sep. 30, a study published last month has revealed that more than half of Slovaks do not view Russia as the primary culprit behind the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This sentiment coincides with the growing popularity of a pro-Russian party, and the announcement of liberal Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová that she will not seek re-election in next spring's presidential elections. Taken together, these new developments raise questions about the future direction of Slovakian politics, and how these changes could affect the country's stance on the war in Ukraine.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová won the 2019 presidential elections by committing herself to honesty and integrity. This message resonated with the Slovaks, who were shaken by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée in 2018. His death sparked public outrage and triggered political turmoil, with allegations of government links to organized crime (which Kuciak was investigating) and the subsequent resignation of leftist-nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.

While the investigation into Kuciak’s murder continued in Slovakia, Čaputova’s presidency was also marked by other challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — with which Slovakia shares a 97-kilometer border — as well as a continued flow of refugees and concerns about inflation and rising prices.

There had long been speculations that Slovakia’s first female president would not run for re-election, despite being considered the most trustworthy politician. Nevertheless, when Čaputová finally did announce earlier this month that she would not seek a second term, it upended the nation's politics.

Keep reading...Show less

Inside The Polish-Led Push To Send Fighter Jets To Ukraine – Bypassing Germany

A bloc of eastern European countries has distanced themselves from Western Europe — Germany in particular — by sending Soviet era jets to Ukraine, part of growing push to supply the country with Western-made fighter jets.

Following Poland’s lead, Slovakia has now declared its plans to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The U.S. may well have been kept informed of the decisions, but Warsaw did not tell the German government. Some Eastern European allies are distancing themselves from Western Europe. And there’s a good reason for that.

Once again Poland is pushing ahead with supplying weapons to Ukraine. “We can say that we will shortly be sending MiG fighter jets to Ukraine,” said President Andrzej Duda on Thursday in Warsaw, during a visit from the Czech President Petr Pavel – announcing it almost in passing, as seems to be Duda’s way.

Duda went one step further than his Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who only the day before had set out a timeline for Poland to provide jets. He said it would take four to six weeks, then the President and commander-in-chief announced a shorter timeline of only a few days.

Keep reading...Show less
LGBTQ Plus
Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra, Sophia Constantino and Bertrand Hauger

LGBTQ+ International: Chile's Non-Binary ID, Slovakia In Mourning, Mr Gay World — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

Watch VideoShow less
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War
Irina Subota

Winter Is Coming: Breaking Down Russian Propaganda Across Europe

Hit by EU sanctions, Russia is working hard to spread its own propaganda through neighboring countries. A new study breaks down exactly what that disinformation campaign is saying — and whether it's working.

-Analysis-

KYIV — One of the main narratives of Russian propaganda in recent years can be summed up as: "Russia is a global power and the West must respect it." Yet since the beginning of the invasion, the European Union has imposed a series of sanctions against Russia.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

In light of this clash, Moscow's propaganda in the West has taken four different and distinct lines: "The future of the EU will be cold and hungry...," "the EU shot itself in the foot...," "the U.S. economy is also suffering, and is now looking for ways to resume business with Russia...," and "sanctions do not harm Russia, they only make it stronger."

Watch VideoShow less
Geopolitics
Viktoria Großmann

Slovakia's First Woman President, Another Velvet Revolution?

Zuzana Čaputová becomes the country's first female head of state, and brings hope to Slovaks looking to end to corruption and to others for a response to populism across Europe.

-OpEd-

With Zuzana Čaputová, Slovakia enters the world political stage as a bearer of hope. Nothing similar has happened in Central Europe since Václav Havel became president of Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution.

Watch VideoShow less
LA STAMPA
Monica Perosino, Federico Varese, and Giuseppe Legato

Slain Slovak Journalist: How Italian Mob Expands Into Eastern Europe

Slovakian authorities are investigating ties between politicians and the Calabria-based Ndràngheta crime syndicate following the killing, last week, of an investigative reporter. Mobsters have been siphoning EU development funds.

BRATISLAVA — In early morning raids across the small towns of Michalovce and Trebišov, in eastern Slovakia, police this week arrested seven Italian men linked to the recent killings of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his partner, Martina Kusnirova.

Kuciak was gunned down last Thursday in his home in the town of Velká Maca, east of the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. The journalist had been working on an article that describes the vast Slovakian operations of the Italian "Ndràngheta crime syndicate, including its dealings in agriculture and ties to high-ranking politicians.

Watch VideoShow less
Economy
Florence Beugé

Can Slovakia, Eurozone's Former Black Sheep, Maintain Its Miracle Growth?

In less than a decade, Slovakia has gone from bottom of the class to best in show, with a 2.5% growth in 2012. Will it be able to keep up the miracle, or will it turn out to be just a mirage?

The past ten years have been a success story for Slovakia. The country was the last to arrive in the Eurozone (in 2009), and here it is, taunting Europe. Industrial production is still growing: +2% in May, +10.8% yearly, according to figures published on July 10. In 2012, the growth rate was approximately 2.5%, far from the other, considerably feebler European economies.

Who remembers that in October last year, Bratislava rejected the European Financial Stability Facility before forcing itself to approve it, at the cost of a political crisis? In June, Slovakian parliament ratified the European Stability Mechanism, to which it will contribute 659 million euros over five years. “We’ve often been considered the black sheep of Europe! And now we are the good guys!” says Juraj Karpis, an analyst at the Institute for Economic and Social studies in Bratislava.

Watch VideoShow less
EXPLORE OTHER TOPICS
chinaitalyusafrancegermany