📰 Slovakia · page 4

2010s

Between 2010–2012, Slovak government was led by first female prime minister Iveta Radičová.[113]253 Her government lasted only two years, Radičová combined the vote on the strengthening of the European Financial Stability Facility – a key anti-crisis mechanism in the eurozone – with a vote of confidence for her cabinet.254 Slovak parliament rejected the EFSF, which led to the collapse of the government.[114]255

In 2012, Robert Fico became second time Prime Minister when his political party Direction – Social Democracy won election and collected 83 of 150 seats in National Council, becoming the first single party to win a clear majority in the Slovak parliament since the fall of communism.[115]256 In 2014, Andrej Kiska became the fourth President of Slovakia.257 For the first time was elected as president entrepreneur and first-time politician.[116]258 International crisis impacted Slovak politics and quickly started dominating the country's political life and media coverage, such as Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in neighbouring Ukraine in 2014 or European migrant crisis in 2015.[117]259

After the parliamentary election in 2016, Robert Fico became third time prime minister, making him longest-serving prime minister in Slovak history, if the years are counted cumulatively.[118]260 Third term of Fico's government was characterised by social and political turmoil.261 On 21 February 2018, young Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, were killed in their home in Veľká Mača.[119][120]262 Thousands of people protested in streets across Slovakia for independent investigation of journalist's murder and a 'trustworthy' government in largest demonstrations in the country since the Velvet Revolution.[121]263 Due to protests, Robert Fico resigned, and the government continued under a new prime minister Peter Pellegrini.[122]264 In 2019, Zuzana Čaputová became the fifth President of Slovakia, first female president.[123]265

2020s

After the parliamentary election in 2020, Igor Matovič became the new prime minister of Slovakia.[124]266 Matovič and his government, with little to no previous government experience, was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 recession, during which more than 21,000 people died in Slovakia between 2020–2023, the worst death toll in the country since the end of World War II.[125][126]267 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Slovak economy faced the worst economic crisis since the 2008 financial crisis and fell into recession.[127]268 At the beginning of 2021, Matovič signed an agreement to acquire 2 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, which has not been cleared by European Union regulators.[128]269 Matovič orchestrated the deal despite disagreement among his coalition partners, which led to a government crisis and his resignation.[129][130]270 The government continued under a new prime minister Eduard Heger.[131]271 Heger and his government faced many challenges, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Russian invasion in neighbouring Ukraine, Ukrainian refugee crisis, Global energy crisis and Inflation surge.272 After a strong economic recovery in 2021, growth slowed down markedly in 2022 and 2023 as a result of the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, notably the subsequent EU sanctions on Russia and Global energy crisis.[132]273 Slovakia became one of Ukraine's largest donors of military aid during Heger's government in 2022 and 2023.[133]274 Government crisis in Slovakia continued with various disputes in the coalition.275 At the end of 2022, Heger's government collapsed, after a lost no-confidence vote in parliament.[134]276 In 2023, in the interim before the next election, President Zuzana Čaputová appointed the first technocrat government in Slovak history and Ľudovít Ódor became the new prime minister for only six months, the third Prime Minister of Slovakia in three years.[135]277

After the parliamentary election in 2023, Robert Fico became for the fourth time prime minister.[136]278 The new government halted military aid to Ukraine, while still providing humanitarian aid and electricity supplies.[137][138]279 On 15 May 2024, Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot several times and wounded in an assassination attempt.[139]280 The suspect stated during interrogation that he acted primarily because of the Fico government's opposition to military assistance to Ukraine.[140]281 In 2024, Peter Pellegrini became the sixth President of Slovakia.[141]282 Pellegrini is the first Slovak politician to have held all three highest constitutional posts (President, Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament) in the country.283 Fourth term of Fico's government is characterized by political instability with fragile coalition, worsening relations with European Union, diplomatic disputes with the closest ally Czech Republic corpus and growing Russian influence.[142][143][144]284 Pro-Russia policies of Slovak government,[145] questioning Slovakia's future in the European Union and NATO,[146][147] criticism of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy[148] and Fico's good relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin,[149] led to widespread demonstrations across the country.[150]285 Slovakia fell significantly in the media freedom ranking and corruption ranking.[151][152]286 Crisis of democratic society was followed by economic decline, underlined by downgrade rating from credit rating agency Moody's and later Standard & Poor's.[153][154][155]287 In 2025, the government amended constitution to recognize only two genders (male and female), sparking human rights concerns.[156][157]288

Geography

Main article: Geography of Slovakia

See also: Geomorphological division of Slovakia

Slovakia lies between latitudes 47° and 50° N, and longitudes 16° and 23° E. The Slovak landscape is noted primarily for its mountainous nature, with the Carpathian Mountains extending across most of the northern half of the country.289 Among these mountain ranges are the high peaks of the Fatra-Tatra Area (including Tatra Mountains, Greater Fatra and Lesser Fatra), Slovak Ore Mountains, Slovak Central Mountains or Beskids.290 The largest lowland is the fertile Danubian Lowland in the southwest, followed by the Eastern Slovak Lowland in the southeast.[158]291 Forests cover 41% of Slovak land surface.[159]292

Tatra mountains

Main article: Tatra Mountains

The Tatra Mountains, with 29 peaks higher than 2500 m AMSL, are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.293 The Tatras occupy an area of 750 km2, of which the greater part 600 km2 lies in Slovakia.294 They are divided into several parts.295

To the north, close to the Polish border, are the High Tatras which are a popular hiking and skiing destination and home to many scenic lakes and valleys as well as the highest point in Slovakia, the Gerlachovský štít at 2655 m and the country's highly symbolic mountain Kriváň.296 To the west are the Western Tatras with their highest peak of Bystrá at 2248 m and to the east are the Belianske Tatras, smallest by area.297

Separated from the Tatras proper by the valley of the Váh river are the Low Tatras, with their highest peak of Ďumbier at 2043 m.298

The Tatra mountain range is represented as one of the three hills on the coat of arms of Slovakia.299

National parks

Main article: List of national parks of Slovakia

There are nine national parks in Slovakia, covering 6.5% of the Slovak land surface.300 These parks are: Tatra National Park, Low Tatras National Park, Veľká Fatra National Park, Slovak Karst National Park, Poloniny National Park, Malá Fatra National Park, Muránska planina National Park, Slovak Paradise National Park and Pieniny National Park.[160]301

Caves

Main article: List of caves in Slovakia

Slovakia has hundreds of caves and caverns under its mountains, of which 30 are open to the public.[161]302 Most of the caves have stalagmites rising from the ground and stalactites hanging from above.303

There are currently five Slovak caves under UNESCO's World Heritage Site status: Dobšiná Ice Cave, Domica, Gombasek Cave, Jasovská Cave and Ochtinská Aragonite Cave.304 Other caves open to the public include Belianska Cave, Demänovská Cave of Liberty, Demänovská Ice Cave or Bystrianska Cave.305

Rivers

Main article: List of rivers of Slovakia

Most of the rivers arise in the Slovak mountains.306 Some only pass through Slovakia, while others make a natural border with surrounding countries (more than 620 km).307 For example, the Dunajec (17 km) to the north, the Danube (172 km) to the south or the Morava (119 km) to the West.308 The total length of the rivers on Slovak territory is 49774 km.309

The longest river in Slovakia is the Váh (403 km), the shortest is the Čierna voda.310 Other important and large rivers are the Myjava, the Nitra (197 km), the Orava, the Hron (298 km), the Hornád (193 km), the Slaná (110 km), the Ipeľ (232 km, forming the border with Hungary), the Bodrog, the Laborec, the Latorica and the Ondava.311

The biggest volume of discharge in Slovak rivers is during spring, when the snow melts from the mountains.312 The only exception is the Danube, whose discharge is the greatest during summer when the snow melts in the Alps.313 The Danube is the largest river that flows through Slovakia.[162]314

Climate

The Slovak climate lies between the temperate and continental climate zones with relatively warm summers and cold, cloudy and humid winters.315 Temperature extremes are between -41.0 and 41.3 C[163][164] although temperatures below -30 C are rare.316 The weather differs from the mountainous north to the plains in the south.317

The warmest region is Bratislava corpus and Southern Slovakia where the temperatures may reach 30 C in summer, occasionally up to 41 C. During night, the temperatures drop to 20 C. The daily temperatures in winter average in the range of -5 C to 10 C. During night it may be freezing, but usually not below -10 C.318

In Slovakia, there are four seasons, each season (spring, summer, autumn and winter) lasts three months.319 The dry continental air brings in the summer heat and winter frosts.320 In contrast, oceanic air brings rainfalls and reduces summer temperatures.321 In the lowlands and valleys, there is often fog, especially in winter.322

Spring starts on the March equinox, around 20 March, and is characterised by colder weather with an average daily temperature of 9 C in the first weeks and about 14 C in May and 17 C in June.323 In Slovakia, the weather and climate in the spring are very unstable.324

Summer starts on the June solstice, around 20–21 June, and is usually characterised by hot weather with daily temperatures exceeding 30 C. July is the warmest month with temperatures up to about 37 to 40 C, especially in regions of southern Slovakia.325 Showers or thunderstorms may occur because of the summer monsoon called Medardova kvapka (Medard drop – 40 days of rain).326 Summer in Northern Slovakia is usually mild with temperatures around 25 C (less in the mountains).327

Autumn in Slovakia starts on the September equinox, around 22–23 September, and is mostly characterised by wet weather and wind, although the first weeks can be very warm and sunny.328 The average temperature in September is around 14 C, in November to 3 C. Late September and early October is a dry and sunny time of year (so-called Indian summer).329

Winter starts on the December solstice, around 21–22 December, with temperatures around -5 to -10 C. In December and January, it is usually snowing, these are the coldest months of the year.330 At lower altitudes, snow does not stay the whole winter, it changes into the thaw and frost.331 Winters are colder in the mountains, where the snow usually lasts until March or April and the night temperatures fall to -20 C and colder.[165]332

Biodiversity

Slovakia signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 19 May 1993, and became a party to the convention on 25 August 1994.[166]333 It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which was received by the convention on 2 November 1998.[167]334

The biodiversity of Slovakia comprises animals (such as annelids, arthropods, molluscs, nematodes and vertebrates), fungi (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota and Zygomycota), micro-organisms (including Mycetozoa), and plants.335 The geographical position of Slovakia determines the richness of the diversity of fauna and flora.336 More than 11,000 plant species have been described throughout its territory, nearly 29,000 animal species and over 1,000 species of protozoa.337 Endemic biodiversity is also common.[168]338

Slovakia is located in the biome of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and terrestrial ecoregions of Pannonian mixed forests and Carpathian montane conifer forests.[169]339 As the altitude changes, the vegetation associations and animal communities are forming height levels (oak, beech, spruce, scrub pine, alpine meadows and subsoil).340 Forests cover 44% of the territory of Slovakia.[170]341 The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.34/10, ranking it 129th globally out of 172 countries.[171]342 In terms of forest stands, 60% are broadleaf trees and 40% are coniferous trees.343 The occurrence of animal species is strongly connected to the appropriate types of plant associations and biotopes.[168]344

Over 4,000 species of fungi have been recorded from Slovakia.[172][173]345 Of these, nearly 1,500 are lichen-forming species.[174]346 Some of these fungi are undoubtedly endemic, but not enough is known to say how many.347 Of the lichen-forming species, about 40% have been classified as threatened in some way.348 About 7% are apparently extinct, 9% endangered, 17% vulnerable, and 7% rare.349 The conservation status of non-lichen-forming fungi in Slovakia is not well documented, but there is a red list for its larger fungi.[175]350