Slovakia: A Determined March Westward

What a busy Fall season. In September Slovakians re-elected their Westward looking coalition government. In November they will get approval to formally join the NATO military alliance and the month after, the European Union.

Prime Minister Miklus Dzurinda’s coalition government got a vote of confidence on their commitment to joining the EU in September, despite strong competition from the nationalistic and autocratic Valdimir Meciar.

A return to Meciar, who ruled the country from 1992 to 1998, was not an option as far as NATO and the EU were concerned. The popular former leader raised eyebrows with what US and Europe considered xenophobic, nationalist policies during his rule. Meciar was also blamed for taking the Slovakian government to the very edge of collapse.

Though getting 19.5 percent of the vote, more than other candidates, Meciar’s party could not find a suitable coalition partner, paving the way for Dzurinda’s center-right party.

The government coalition is eager to get underway. In early November, the parliament in Bratislava passed the new government’s program. The plans to shrink the Slovakian bureaucracy and reform the health and pension system are surely music to Brussels’ ears.

High unemployment, low investment

The baby republic, which broke off of Czechoslovakia in 1993, shows the same verve to join the EU as Hungary and the Czech Republic, even if its economy can’t keep up.

High unemployment rates outside of Bratislava have prompted Slovakian youths to head to Prague to find work. Though European companies, like Germany’s Volkswagen, are interested in Slovakian workers because of the low wages, the number setting up shop doesn’t compare to other eastern European countries, such as Hungary or Poland.

The country’s leaders are nevertheless ambitious. The new government program aims at slashing state costs. Together with a reasonable tax system, the country hopes to position itself to join European monetary zone and the euro in 2006.

But first, the EU, a membership that was all but guaranteed until recently. Slovakia’s Roma community, like Hungary’s, continues to face discrimination and Brussels wants more legislation passed against corruption.