As The Slovak Spectator writes on March 19 Robert Fico confirmed next nominations for the ministers in his government – Martin Glváč will become defence minister and Peter Žiga will serve as environment minister. The new government will take office next week, on April 4. The Slovak Spectator summarized already known nominations in a new government: Robert Kalinak will serve as interior minister, Peter Kazimir as minister of finance, Jan Pociatek as minister of transport,…

photo: League of Women Voters in California

As the portal czechposition.com writes Czech government adopted a proposal concerning national referenda which gives Czechs the chance to vote in referendum on important national and foreign issues. According to the proposal calling referendum 250,000 signatures under a petition and for the referendum to be valid the turnout cannot be lower than 50% of the voters. The latest referendum in Czech Republic took place in 2003 and Czechs voted in favour of joining the European…

As The Slovak Spectator writes Jana Dubovcová (former judge and SDKU MP) was appointed a new Slovak ombudswoman on March 28, 2012. She replaced Pavol Kandráč who was in the office of ombudsman for last two five-year terms. At the same time talks over new government are being held, the newest information is that Jan Počiatek, former minister of finance, will be appointed the new transport, construction and regional development minister. More information here.  …

The Sofia Echo writes about a ranking of the most influential people in Bulgaria presented by the local edition of Forbes magazine. The first place was granted to the Prime Minister (GERB) Boiko Borissov, second was Tsvetan Vassilev – Corporate Commercial Bank majority shareholder. Among 30 people there was only one woman – Tsvetelina Borislavova, majority shareholder of Bulgarian American Credit Bank. More about the ranking here.

President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus is paying a visit to Bulgaria on March 27, 2012, invited by the Bulgarian president Rossen Plevneliev, as The Sofia Echo writes today. There will be both talks between the presidents and between the Czech and Bulgarian delegations. A joint conference is planned to be held by Klaus and Plevneliev.The issues tackled during the talks will include political dialogue, bilateral relations, chances for trade cooperation and widely understood…

About elections which delighted Europe, about some new ideas from the city on the Seine and about a bankruptcy that turned out to be a bankruptcy. A budget hatchet will be buried in Slovakia, and Robert Fico will be in charge of it. At least, this is what the last weekend’s election resulted in. Contrary to the election outcome in the year 2006, this time the results of the party SMER pleased the foreign countries….

As The Lithuania Tribune writes Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano in Seoul, during the Nuclear Security Summit. President Grybauskaitė emphasised that works at both the Ignalina nuclear power plant and the planned Visaginas nuclear power plant are carried out with full respect for nuclear safety requirements. However, she pointed out concern when it comes to the safety of planned nuclear power plants in…

As the portal www.thenews.pl writes, new Polish party was officially launched on Saturday, March 24. The new conservative party is called Solidarna Polska (SP) (Solidarity Poland) and Zbigniew Ziobro, former Minister of Justice, was elected its leader. Solidarna Polska has 20MPs, 2 senators and 4 MEPs, mainly former members of Law and Justice party. Currently, according to surveys, the party has less than 2% of voters’ support. Main points of the political programme of the…

According to The Slovak Spectator Miroslav Lajčák will be new Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs. The rest of the ministerial nominations will be known on Monday, March 26. Apart from Lajčák’s nomination, it is already known that Marek Maďarič will  be culture minister, Robert Kaliňák – interior minister and Peter Kažimír – finance minister. More information here.  

Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day is officially celebrated on March 23. On this occassion, as the portal www.thenews.pl writes, Polish President Bronisław Komorowski is going to visit Hungary. First there will be celebrations held in Budapest, in which Hungarian counterpart President Pal Schmitt will also take part. On Friday celebrations will be held in Szeged. On the occassion of Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day a plaque will be unveiled in Budapest and both Presidents will plant oak trees as…