Katarína Oružinská
Read an interview with BISLA’s resident professor, James Thompson, as he talks about his life experiences and what brought him to live in Bratislava
All tagged Slovakia
INTERVIEW: Timothy Garton Ash on Slovakia: “You are now leading the way in Central Europe”
Michal Micovčin
1989 and the Crisis of the Post-Wall World was the title of the lecture that was given by Professor Timothy Garton Ash from the University of Oxford. During his recent stay in Slovakia, he participated at the International Conference on November 89: 30 Years After, which was held at Comenius University and organized by the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Il Ponte was lucky enough to take part in this event and conduct an interview with Prof. Garton Ash. The given interview was done after the 30-year commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and prior to that of the start of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.
30 years after: revolution unfinished
Peter Sterančák
The revolution is like drinking too much vodka. The first few shots are hopeful – even euphoric. The world seems to be in equilibrium with your improving mood – ready for a personal revolution, everything seems bright and shining, solutions seem easy and within a grasp of another shot of vodka. Then, as the ethanol in your veins increases in amount, things start to look blurry and incomprehensible.
Gorilla tapes: The voters are absolute turds
Dániel Cséfalvay
“The voters know absolutely nothing. They have no idea what is going on. These people apprehend only the tiniest superficial bits.” According to the audio recordings, these are the words of Jaroslav Haščák, one of the wealthiest Slovaks, describing his perception of democracy in practice. But, are these comments so far away from reality?
The day of victory over fascism: Will we need to defeat fascism again?
Jonáš Jánsky, Peter Sterančák
May 8, 1945, Europe. The wave of enthusiasm, hope, and relief, is flooding Europe. The war (for Europeans) is over! German Nazi forces representatives are signing unconditional surrender to the allied forces in Europe, merely 8 days after Hitler’s suicide (April 30, 1945). His "Thousand-Year Reich" lasted for 12 years (1933-1945).
Will Slovakia have its first female president?
Peter Sterančák
These seem to be the only two options possible after the first round of presidential elections on Saturday 16, 2019. Zuzana Čaputová (read: tschaputova) won the first round with 40.6 % of the vote (870 415 votes), while Maroš Šefčovič (read: marosh chef-tchovitch), the candidate of the ruling party, secured only 18.7% (400 379).
No Longer Sleeping
Laura Palenčíková
It has been twelve years now, twelve years of a government headed by Robert Fico and made in the likeness of that strongman of the ‘90s. There have been numerous scandals in Slovakia on Fico’s watch. Somehow, we tolerated all that. Until the headlines hit our screens on Monday morning, February 26, 2018. Several groups of organized crime have operated in Slovakia.