Europe

Slovakia
Last reviewed: 5 December 2008

Country information

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HISTORY

On 1 January 1993, Slovakia became independent following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The Slovak Government signed the EU Accession Treaty in Athens on 16 April 2003 A referendum in May 2003 gave them an overwhelming mandate to join the European Union and they duly became a full member on 1 May 2004. Slovakia received an invitation to join NATO at the NATO Prague Summit in November 2002 and joined on 2 April 2004.

Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe and shares common borders with Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. Mountains dominate the central and northern parts of the country while the south is mainly lowland. It has a temperate climate.

Longer Historical Perspective

The earliest records of Slavic inhabitants in present-day Slovakia date from the fifth century AD. Following their invasion in 907, the Magyars established the Kingdom of Hungary, which included much of modern-day Slovakia. This invasion had profound long-term consequences as it meant that the Slavic people of the Kingdom of Hungary - the ancestors of the Slovaks - were separated politically from the western areas, inhabited by the ancestors of the Czechs, for virtually a millennium. This separation was a major factor in the development of distinct Czech and Slovak nationalities. The Hungarians ruled the Slovaks for a thousand years until the end of the First World War.

Recent History

In 1918, at the end of the First World War, a Slovak National Council was formed and under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, Slovakia was separated from Hungary and the Czechoslovak State was created. Following the German annexation of the Czech Lands in 1938-39, a Slovak nationalist government was set up under Father Tiso, who in March 1939 established an independent fascist state. Under post-war Communist rule, the Slovaks were reunited with the Czechs. However, after the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, latent tensions in Czech-Slovak relations re-emerged. Vladimir Meciar, leader of the "Movement for a Democratic Slovakia" (HZDS), led the demand for Slovak state sovereignty. Meciar became Prime Minister following parliamentary elections in June 1992. An independent Slovak Republic came into being on 1 January 1993 and in February 1993 Michal Kovac was elected its first President.

Meciar's particular brand of authoritarian leadership made him a highly controversial figure. His party governed in coalition with other smaller parties, notably the Slovak National Party (SNS), the most nationalistic party in Slovak politics and intensely hostile to the Hungarian minority. At the elections of September 1994 Meciar's party formed a new coalition, with the SNS and the far-left Association of Slovak Workers (ZRS). During the next 4 years, Meciar deprived the opposition parties of any meaningful role in parliament or elsewhere. In September 1998 Mikulas Dzurinda, won a general election. In December 1999, the EU recognised the progress Dzurinda's government had made in overcoming the democratic deficit of the Meciar years, and invited Slovakia to open negotiations on EU membership.

The general elections of 2002 resulted in a centre right pro-reform coalition government of four parties - SDKU, KDH, SMK and ANO with Dzurinda again Prime Minister. The Dzurinda government ensured that Slovakia played an active role in Western political and defence structures. Under Dzurinda Slovakia supported measures for trade liberalisation, and participated in NATO peacekeeping missions. Slovakia also deployed troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The withdrawal in September 2005 of ANO from the coalition followed by KDH in February 2006 resulted in a minority government and a call for early elections, which took place in June 2006.

The withdrawal in September 2005 of ANO from the coalition followed by KDH in February 2006 resulted in a minority government and a call for early elections which took place in June 2006.

BBC News Country Timeline: Slovakia