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Image: Valerio Rosati/Zoonar/picture allianceImage: Valerio Rosati/Zoonar/picture alliance

Slovakia

Slovakia is a central European country bordering the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine and Poland. The nation recently held an early parliamentary election that saw populist Robert Fico return to power.

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All Content on this topic

Men walking on snow between two rows of tents

Czech soldiers to lead NATO support for Slovakia

The Czech Republic is sending troops to help Slovakia protect its border with Ukraine in the wake of Russia's agression.
ConflictsMarch 14, 2022
Two MiG-29 aircraft at Malbork air base, Poland

MiG jets: Divisive — and deliberate distraction?

Poland's proposal to send MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine proved highly controversial. Was it all a diversion tactic?
PoliticsMarch 11, 2022
Woman with soliders carrying a baby

Ukrainians rush to border with Slovakia

The Ukrainian-Slovakian border has seen a flood of refugees hoping to join relatives in the Czech Republic.
MigrationMarch 4, 2022
Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis celebrate their gold medal in the two-man bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics in Beijing

Olympics: Germany enjoys historic clean sweep

Germany swept the medals in the two-man bobsleigh as Francesco Friedrich successfully defended his title.
SportsFebruary 15, 2022
The KleinVision car that transforms into a flying vehicle taking its maiden flight.

Slovakia certifies flying car as airworthy

Slovakia's state transport agency has given the green light for a new flying car to take to the skies.
TechnologyJanuary 25, 2022
Former Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico leaving a police station after his arrest

Slovakia police arrest former PM Fico ahead of rally

Robert Fico, a vocal critic of anti-COVID measures, was detained before a protest defying coronavirus restrictions.
PoliticsDecember 17, 2021
Roma settlement in Slovakia

Slovakia apologizes for forced Roma sterilizations

Thousands of Roma women were forcibly sterilized in Slovakia for decades, a practice that continued until 2004.
SocietyNovember 25, 2021
A medic tests a woman for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 during nationwide testing in Bratislava, Slovakia

COVID digest: Unvaccinated face stricter measures in Europe

Slovakia, Greece and the Czech Republic have all moved toward variations of a "lockdown for the unvaccinated."
HealthNovember 18, 2021
A portrait of writer Irena Brezna in a red scarf.

Writer Irena Brezna receives German PEN award

Giving a voice to dissidents, Brezna combines literary and journalistic elements in her reports and novels.
CultureNovember 18, 2021
Car production in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic

Central Europe's focus on cars backfires

Pandemic-induced disruptions to the global car industry are hitting the Czech Republic and Slovakia especially hard.
BusinessNovember 16, 2021
Ungarn Dunajska Streda | Fußballverein DAC

Orban-backed football club causing a stir in Slovakia

An ethnic Hungarian football club is thriving in Slovakia thanks partly to funding from the Hungarian government.
SoccerSeptember 23, 2021
Croatia's Mountain Rescue Service pictured assisting the woman on the island of Krk

Croatian police identify woman suffering from memory loss

Rescuers had found the woman alone and disoriented on a remote part of a Croatian island.
SocietySeptember 22, 2021
Pope Francis meets members of the Jewish community in Bratislava on Monday

Pope meets with Roma in Slovakia

Pope Francis meets with Roma in a notorious housing project on day three of his Central Europe trip.
ReligionSeptember 14, 2021
Pope Francis meets members of the Jewish community in Bratislava, Slovakia

Slovakia: Pope expresses 'shame' over Holocaust victims

"Here, in this place, the name of God was dishonored," Pope Francis said at a Holocaust memorial in Bratislava.
ReligionSeptember 13, 2021
Russland St. Petersburg | UEFA Euro 2020 | Slowakei gewinnt

Euro 2020: Slovakia smother Robert Lewandowski

Poland simply couldn't find a way to get Bayern Munich's superstar Robert Lewandowski the ball in dangerous areas.
SportsJune 14, 2021
Razzia gegen Schleuser Bundespolizei

Police raid people-smuggling network in Germany, Slovakia

Police carry out raids across Germany, as well as in Slovakia, against people smuggling gangs.
CrimeMay 31, 2021
A package of Sputnik V vaccine on top of a world map.

Brazil: Was there sloppiness with Sputnik V?

Brazilian authorities say Russia's Sputnik V vaccine did not inactivate a carrier virus. Russia denies the claim.
ScienceMay 4, 2021
Flags of Slovakia and the EU flown outside the Slovak Embassy

Russia expels 7 EU diplomats

Russia has expelled the diplomats from Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in a tit-for-tat move amid a growing row.
PoliticsApril 28, 2021
Igor Matovic

Slovak PM offers to swap roles to end crisis

Igor Matovic has pitched switching jobs to resolve the standoff over the ruling coalition's pandemic measures.
PoliticsMarch 28, 2021
Slovak's Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok.

Slovak foreign minister resigns as government teeters

Ivan Korcok is the sixth to step down after President Zuzana Caputova demanded the prime minister's resignation.
PoliticsMarch 24, 2021
Igor Matovic is the leader of anti-graft political movement Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO).

Slovakia PM offers to resign to end coalition crisis

The Slovak PM said he is ready to resign — under certain conditions — to put the country's coalition chaos to a rest.
PoliticsMarch 22, 2021
A coronavirus ward at a German hospital

Germany helps COVID patients from Slovakia

A medical plane carrying COVID-19 patients is expected to land in the western German city of Dortmund later Saturday.
PoliticsMarch 6, 2021
Mass coronavirus testing in Slovakia

COVID-19: Slovakia mired in chaos

For almost a year, Slovakia has been ruled by a coalition that pledged to clean up the "mafia state." Its chaotic strate
PoliticsMarch 1, 2021
external

Businesses hedged their bets among Brexit uncertainty

Brexit uncertainty has caused a British businessman to hedge his bets at home and expand into the EU.
BusinessDecember 31, 202002:40 min
Tributes to murdered Slovakian investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova

25 years for killer of Slovakian investigative journalist

Slovakia's top court added two years to the killer's sentence for the 2018 double murder of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.
CrimeDecember 2, 2020
A child is tested with a swab by two medical professionals in protective gear

Does coronavirus mass testing make sense?

Austria plans to introduce mass testing for COVID-19. Should larger countries like Germany also check everyone?
HealthNovember 17, 2020
Ex-police chief Tibor Gaspar

Slovakia arrests ex-police chiefs over journalist killing

Special units of Slovakia's police have detained several law enforcement veterans, including a former chief of police.
CrimeNovember 5, 2020
A woman wearing a face mask attends a plenary session of the European Parliament

Coronavirus: Over 200,000 virus deaths in Europe

Nearly 4.8 million people in Europe have been infected with COVID-19. Read the latest here.
HealthOctober 18, 2020
Bratislava I Marian Kotleba I Gerichtsprozess 2019

Slovakia jails far-right leader for extremism

A court found Marian Kotleba, the head of the People's Party - Our Slovakia, guilty of peddling Nazi ideology.
PoliticsOctober 13, 2020
'Stop political repressions in Belarus' banner is seen during a demonstration at the Main Square

Several EU ambassadors recalled out of Minsk

After Belarus accused Lithuania and Poland of meddling, several EU states temporarily pulled their envoys out of Minsk.
PoliticsOctober 8, 2020
Marian Kocner in court, wearing face mask

Court acquits businessman of journalist's murder

Slovak businessman Marian Kocner has been found innocent of charges that he ordered the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak.
Law and JusticeSeptember 3, 2020
A worker in a factory in Germany on an assembly line

German firms seek suppliers closer to home

Since the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, German companies have become wary of relying solely on faraway suppliers.
BusinessAugust 25, 202002:52 min
Berlin police guard the crime scene in the Kleiner Tiergarten

Slovakia expels 3 Russian diplomats with Berlin murder link

The expulsion could have a possible link to the alleged contract murder of a Georgian national in Berlin's Kleiner Tierg
PoliticsAugust 11, 2020
The main suspect in the murder trial is brought into the courtroom

Killer of Slovakian journalist Kuciak jailed

In the Kuciak murder case in Slovakia, the alleged contract gunman Miroslav Marcek has been jailed for 23 years.
CrimeApril 6, 2020
Statue of Justitia

Rule of law under attack in southeast Europe

In Hungary and other central and eastern European states, COVID-19 is providing an excuse to undermine the rule of law.
Rule of LawMarch 24, 2020
Memorial for Jan Kuciak

Murder of Jan Kuciak: 13 judges arrested in Slovakia

Public officials with ties to the alleged mastermind of the killing have been charged with abuse of office.
CrimeMarch 11, 2020
Inside Europe Teaser

Inside Europe 06.03.2020

The coronavirus outbreak in Italy - The migrant crisis on the Turkish-Greek border - Saving Cyprus' strays - Free public transport in Luxembourg - LGBT-free zones in Poland - A change of political pace in Slovakia - Green soccer in Spain - Flight shaming
PoliticsMarch 6, 202055:00 min
Slowakei Wahlen | Igor Matovic

Inside Europe: A change of political pace in Slovakia

The next prime minister of Slovakia is likely to be a millionaire anti-corruption campaigner, Igor Matovic, after his OLaNO party stormed to victory in the polls. Now — in the first parliamentary election since the murder two years ago of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina — he looks likely to form the next government. Rob Cameron has more from Bratislava.
PoliticsMarch 6, 202004:23 min
A nun casts her ballot during the Slovakian parliamentary elections in Trnava, Slovakia

Slovakia opposition wins election

Outgoing Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini has conceded defeat, in a vote haunted by the murder of a journalist.
PoliticsMarch 1, 2020
Election placards in Bratislava

Slovakian election overshadowed by journalist's murder

The election has been overshadowed by corruption allegations and the 2018 murder of a journalist.
PoliticsFebruary 29, 2020
Slovakai | ermordeter Journalist Jan Kuciak und Martina Kusnirova | Freedom Square

In memoriam: The immortal search for truth

Two years after Kuciak's murder, it is still unclear who ordered his death.
SocietyFebruary 21, 2020
Woman kneeling and placing candle before picture of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martin Kusnirovna

Slovakia: Man sentenced to 15 years over journalist murder

A Slovak court has given a 15-year jail sentence to a man over his role in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak.
Law and JusticeDecember 30, 2019
Slovaks Protest corruption

Trial for murder of reporter begins in Slovakia

The murder of a journalist and his partner shocked Slovakia, brought people to the streets and toppled the government.
CrimeDecember 19, 2019
Damaged gravestones at Jewish cemetery in Slovakia

Jewish gravestones damaged in Slovakia

The cemetery manager described the act of desecration as "barbaric."
CrimeDecember 18, 2019
The mayors of Prague, Budapest, Bratislava and Warsaw pose for a photo

Eastern European mayors forge anti-populism pact

The mayors of the Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia's capitals formed a new alliance that seeks EU support.
PoliticsDecember 16, 2019
Building burning in Presov, Slovakia

Slovakia: Deadly gas explosion rocks Bratislava

An apartment block is in danger of collapsing after a lunchtime gas explosion.
CatastropheDecember 6, 2019
Karel Gott singing out window on November 4, 1989 (Prag)

Czechs, Slovaks looks back at end of Communism

Czechs and Slovaks recall the start of the Velvet Revolution that brought Communism to an end in Czechoslovakia. Despite the very real gains made since 1989, there's some frustration, disappointment and even fears that democracy could be under threat. Rob Cameron has this report from Prague.
PoliticsNovember 17, 201905:03 min
Emergency workers attend the scene after a passenger bus collided with a truck

Bus accident in Slovakia kills 13

A bus, reportedly full of students, has crashed in Slovakia.
CatastropheNovember 13, 2019
PIcture of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova | Freedom Square

Inside Europe: Charges in murder of Slovak journalist

Prosecutors in Slovakia have formally charged a businessman and three alleged accomplices with the murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée. Kuciak had written several critical articles about the businessman when he was shot dead at his home in February last year. His murder led to mass demonstrations and the fall of the prime minister, Robert Fico. Rob Cameron reports.
PoliticsOctober 24, 201903:55 min
Vladimir Meciar

Inside Europe: A comeback for Slovakia's Meciar?

A controversial political leader of the 1990s is planning a political comeback. Slovakia's prime minister Vladimir Meciar was elected, and brought down, three times between 1994 and 1998, overseeing a period so tainted by violations of the rule of law that the country's bid to join NATO and the EU was put on ice. Meciar finally left politics in 2012. Rob Cameron reports from Bratislava.
PoliticsAugust 30, 201905:27 min