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| Official name: Slovenská Republika (Slovak Republic)
Head of State: President Ivan Gasparovic (formerly HZD) (from 15 Jun 2004) Head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda (leader of SDKU) (since Nov 1998) Ruling party: Coalition government led by Slovenská Demokratická a Krestanská Únia (SDKÚ) (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union) and including Strana Madarskej Koalície-Magyar Koalíció Pártja (SMK) (Hungarian Coalition Party), Krest'ansko-Demokratické Hnutie (KDH) (Christian Democratic Movement) and Aliancia Nového Obcana (ANO) (New Citizen Alliance) (from 2002) Area: 49,035 square km Population: 5.42 million (2004) Capital: Bratislava Official language: Slovak Currency: Slovak koruna (Sk) = 100 haléru Exchange rate: Sk30.64 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$6,010 (2003) GDP real growth: 3.90% (2003) Labour force: 2.65 million (2003) Unemployment: 17.60% (2003) Inflation: 8.60% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$641.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$9.60 billion (2003) |
Historical profile
Slovakia, called Oberungarn (Upper Hungary) in some older maps, had politically
been a part of the Hungarian kingdom for centuries, ever since the Moravian
Kingdom had been destroyed in 902.
1536–1783 Bratislava, formerly Pressburg, was the capital of Hungary.
1867–1917 The Habsburg domains in central Europe were reconstituted as the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Slovakia's struggle for independence suffered a setback when Hungary's parliament gained a large degree of political autonomy from the Austrian administration in Vienna. The policy of Magyarisation that the Hungarian administration strove to achieve – Hungarian was to be the exclusive language of administration, jurisdiction and education – was most disturbing to Slovakia.
1918 At the end of the First World War, Slovakia announced its independence from the Austro-Hungarian empire and incorporation into the new Republic of Czechoslovakia with Thomas Masaryk as the country's first president.
1938 Czechoslovakia ceded its German-speaking areas of Sudetenland to Germany.
1939–45 The country fell under German control until the end of the Second World War.
1946 The Czechoslovak Communist Party (CPCz) formed a power-sharing government following national elections.
1948 After mass protests and strikes orchestrated by the Communists, a government crisis left the CPCz with a majority in government.
1949–67 Stalinist-style rule, complete with party purges.
1968 Alexander Dubcek, the CPCz leader, introduced the policy of ‘socialism with a human face', which ended with the crushing of the reformist movement by the Soviet army.
1969–88 There were on-going protests at occupation by the Soviet troops. Václav Havel and a group of dissidents called for the restoration of civil and political rights. Mass demonstrations in 1988 marked the anniversary of the 1968 invasion.
1989 The new spirit of glasnost was met with scepticism as the government initially resisted political and economic change. However, large public demonstrations in the major cities, the `Velvet Revolution', led to the resignation of the Communist Party leadership. Václav Havel was elected president and a pluralistic political system and market economy were introduced.
1990 The country was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. The first free elections since 1946 led to the establishment of a coalition government involving all major parties, with the exception of the CPCz, and Havel was re-elected president.
1991 The Soviet forces completed their withdrawal.
1992 In elections, the Czech voters backed the centre-right, while the Slovaks supported Slovak separatists and left-wing parties. Vladimir Meciar (a supporter of Slovak separatism) became Slovak prime minister. He opposed the rapid privatisation of the public sector proposed by the Czech prime minister, Václav Klaus. Neither was prepared to compromise and agreed to the separation of Slovakia, despite President Havel's objections.
1993 Czechoslovakia divided into two independent countries, the Czech Republic (comprising the regions of Bohemia and Moravia) and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia). Michal Kovac became president of the Slovak Republic, with Vladimir Meciar continuing as prime minister.
1994 Meciar was voted out of office in March and was replaced by Jozef Moravcik. Moravcik lasted until the National Council elections in December when Meciar was returned to power with a new coalition government.
1997 A referendum to debate electoral change became a farce when the central question was withdrawn and the majority of voters stayed away.
1998 Kovac's presidential term expired and Prime Minister Meciar assumed some presidential powers. The refusal of opposition parties to co-operate with Meciar, despite his party, Hnutie Za Demokratické Slovensko (HZDS) (Movement for Democratic Slovakia), gaining the most seats in the elections, led to Mikulas Dzurinda becoming prime minister.
1999 Rudolf Schuster elected president.
2000 Dzurinda, the leader of the main coalition partner, the Slovenská Demokratiká Koalícia (SDK) (Slovak Democratic Coalition), registered a new political party, the Slovenská Demokratická a Krestanská Únia (SDKÚ) (Social Democratic Christian Union), as the successor to the SDK, in order to give himself an electoral platform to contest the 2002 elections.
2002 The parliamentary elections were won by the SDKÚ, led by Dzurinda; he formed a centre-right coalition government with the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the New Citizen Alliance (ANO). NATO invited Slovakia to join the alliance by 2004.
2003 Voters in the May referendum approved of EU membership in 2004; turnout was just over the required 50 per cent.
2004 A run-off presidential election on 17 April was won by Ivan Gasparovic, formerly of the Hnutie za Demokraciu (Movement for Democracy) (HZD), with 59.9 per cent of the vote. Slovakia entered the EU on 1 May. Ivan Gasparovic took office on 15 June.
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