Five things to know about Slovakia

BRATISLAVA - Laszlo Juhasz Slovaks vote in a presidential election on Saturday that is expected to lead to a run-off between populist parliament speaker Peter Pellegrini and liberal diplomat Ivan Korcok next month.

Here are five things to know about the EU and NATO member of 5.4 million people.

NATO, EU, eurozone

The Slovak Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, which declared independence from the dying Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.

During Nazi occupation, Slovakia became a puppet state under the regime of Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest who agreed to send tens of thousands of Jews to Germany's World War II death camps.

Czechoslovakia was eventually liberated and a republic restored in 1945. Three years later the country fell under Soviet domination following a communist coup.

The Velvet Revolution toppled totalitarian rule in 1989 and in 1993 Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Slovakia joined NATO and the European Union in 2004 and went on to enter the eurozone in 2009.

From Ukraine towards Russia

Slovakia provided eastern neighbour Ukraine with substantial military and humanitarian aid after the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

But the drive suffered a blow when populist Prime Minister Robert Fico took power in October 2023 and refused to continue military aid for the war-torn country whose sovereignty he questions.

Slovak voters, many of whom welcomed Ukrainian refugees into their homes when the invasion began, have also started to turn their backs on Ukraine.

More than half told pollsters from the Globsec think tank that the West or Ukraine were to blame for the war, with Globsec analysts saying the results were affected by disinformation.

Disinformation also severely affected the campaign before last year's general election won by Fico.

Car-driven economy

With the world's highest per capita auto production, Slovakia is home to Volkswagen, Kia Motors, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover car plants.

They churned out more than a million cars last year, with the car-making sector accounting for half of Slovakia's industrial production.

The share will likely grow in 2026 when Sweden's Volvo Cars expects to launch production at a new plant producing electric cars in eastern Slovakia.

The European Commission expects the Slovak economy to grow by 2.3 percent this year and by 2.6 percent in 2025 as exports are expected to recover.

'Love-o-meter'

According to the World Record Academy, Slovakia boasts the longest love poem. Written in 1844, "Marina" has 2,900 lines and recounts the doomed love between poet Andrej Sladkovic and his muse Maria Pischlova.

They were star-crossed lovers but Pischlova's parents shunned the poor poet and forced her to marry a wealthy gingerbread maker.

The house where she lived in the mediaeval silver mining town of Banska Stiavnica is called the "Epicentre of Love" and a local exhibition includes a "love-o-meter" measuring the strength of a couple's affection.

The museum burnt down last year, but its managers expect to reopen in 2026.

Italian football coach

Slovakia's national football team shares its coach with reigning Italian champions Napoli.

Francesco Calzona took Slovakia over in 2022 and led them to Euro 2024.

He was recommended for the job by star midfielder Marek Hamsik whom he met as assistant coach at Napoli.

Hamsik is Calzona's assistant for the national team, but he refused to follow him to Italy when Calzona was named Napoli's head coach in February. - AFP