Mikloš: In 30 years, independent Slovakia wrote a story full of twists and turns – Home – News
In 30 years, independent Slovakia has written an interesting story full of twists and turns, successes and failures, expected and unexpected events, victories and failures. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Slovak Republic, former Minister of Finance Ivan Mikloš stated this for TASR.
“Sometimes we went up, sometimes down, sometimes we created more, other times we destroyed more, sometimes we went with the Western civilization current, sometimes against it,” he noted. If we look at comparable countries that, together with Slovakia, overcame the legacy of a totalitarian communist regime and an uncompetitive centrally controlled economy in recent decades, it can be said, according to Mikloš, that the more successful were and are those that made reforms and integrated into the EU as soon as possible, the eurozone, NATO and OECD.
“Since we joined the EU in the first wave, NATO and the OECD in the second, and the eurozone as the second (after Slovenia), while our neighbors in the V4 are still not there, it could be said that basically it was a successful 30 years and the whole story. However, on closer inspection, it doesn’t look so ideal,” Mikloš pointed out. He points out that even ten years ago (2012), the Slovak Republic was in 3rd place in terms of economic level among 11 comparable countries that joined the EU since 2004 (V4, three Baltic countries /B3/, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) ( behind Slovenia and the Czech Republic).
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“In 2021, it was already the penultimate tenth place, while only Bulgaria was behind us. While during the division in 1993 we reached 66% of the Czech economic level, in 2012 it was 91.7%, but in 2021 it will be only 74.7%,” Mikloš explained to TASR. According to him, Slovakia entered independence on the one hand with the handicap of a new state that did not have some of the institutions of an independent state, but also with the advantage of well-started reforms still within Czechoslovakia from 1990-1992.
“But then came the years 1993-1998, the years of the two governments of Vladimír Mečiar, when Slovakia was excluded from integration into the EU, NATO and the OECD, foreign investments did not come to the country, corruption was rampant, state enterprises were given away for a pittance to related businessmen, or the management of these enterprises. Insolvency grew, non-performing loans brought the country’s largest banks, which were in state territory, to the edge of the country, the state did not pay for its obligations, the expansionary monetary policy was hampered by the restrictive monetary policy of the central bank, which led to an enormous increase in interest rates and further decimated the economy. described Mikloš, saying that Slovakia was once again behind the black hole of Europe.
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Two governments of Mikuláš Dzurinda followed. “It was the first to erase the integration deficit (in 2000 we joined the OECD and in 2004 as part of the first group of enlargement, we also joined the EU) and solved the biggest problems inherited from Mečiar’s governments,” added Mikloš. He pointed to the rescue of the largest banks, the solution to the insolvency of a large state, companies, price deregulation, the rescue of VSŽ Košice, opening the country to foreign investors and attracting investors, restructuring and modernization of the economy.
“The second government of Mikuláš Dzurinda between 2002 and 2006 launched a very important and complex reform program, thanks to which Slovakian Banka named it the most reformed country in the world in 2004. In the same year, we joined the EU and Slovakia started out as an economic Tatra tiger. We achieved the highest economic growth in Europe and in six years we fundamentally changed the image of the country – from the black hole of Europe to an economic tiger,” noted Mikloš.
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Dzurinda’s cabinet was replaced by the Smer government. “The economy started by the reforms continued to grow rapidly, as of January 1, 2009, we completed the process of entering the eurozone, which began in 2003, but 2009 was also the year of the global economic crisis, during which the Slovak economy fell by 5.5%,” he said. for TASR Mikloš. Another public government, this time under the leadership of Iveta Radičová, had to consolidate finances after the crisis. The cabinet ended prematurely, another Smer government took office.
“The rule of all three Smer governments was characterized by the absence of the necessary reform, the distortion or cancellation of these measures, especially by the domination of corruption, political threats and the disabling of law enforcement agencies, inadequacy, populism and overall irresponsible and incompetent politics,” emphasized Mikloš.
After the most recent elections, the government led by the OĽANO movement took office. According to Mikloš, there was a threat to fundamentally change this policy of Smer, but it did not materialize. As reasons, he mentions the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, but also subjective reasons, i.e. the specific personality of Igor Matovič, conflicts and incoherence of the coalition and coalition parties. “And these are all the reasons why we are where we are today, i.e. in the penultimate place before Bulgaria and for all similar comparable reports,” explained Mikloš.
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Overall, according to him, Slovakia belongs to the successful countries in three decades, but mainly because of two reform upheavals. “While this happened even before independence (in 1990-1992) and the second in 1998-2006. So we move like on a swing or an earlier caterpillar track, the descending parts of which are already longer and deeper than the ascending ones,” he assessed for TASR Mikloš.
Currently, he emphasizes the need for reforms in four areas in particular. “First, healthy and sustainable public finances. Second, you are constantly improving the business environment. Third, high-quality and efficient public administration and high-quality public services. And fourthly, a knowledge-based society, i.e. high-quality schools, science, research, innovative economy,” Mikloš named. According to him, Slovakia went down more than up in all these areas during the Smer government, but also in the last two years.