Foreign Policies

Nestor: Modern Democracy Means Voting Quickly, Safely and Online

Bratislava, April 24 (TASR) – Democracy in modern times means giving people the possibility to vote online, safely and quickly from anywhere in the world, stated Estonian Parliamentary Chairman Eiki Nestor at a summit of EU parliamentary chairs in Bratislava on Monday.

“As many as one third of the votes were submitted online during the most recent parliamentary elections in Estonia. I only use a pen when I write letters to you, everything else is done online. I sign a new law online within ten minutes of its approval, the president [Kersti Kaljulaid] can do it within 20 minutes,” said Nestor as part of a discussion on how to bring national parliaments closer to the public.

Regarding this issue, President of the Austrian Bundesrat Sonja Ledl-Rossmann said that her Parliament regularly organises a democratic workshop for children aged between 8-14, a youth parliament for 15- and 16-year-olds and an apprenticeship forum for young people up to 24 years of age. “It’s aimed at strengthening democratic awareness by providing people with fundamental democratic values,” she said.

Head of the Greek Parliament Nikolaos Voutsis added that Greek MPs passed a Code on parliamentary transparency with a large majority last year. The document is aimed at combating corruption and extremist behaviour, such as hate speeches and xenophobia.

SPPK: If Farmers Aren't Taken Seriously, They Will Be Seen in Streets More Often

If farmers' demands are not taken seriously, they will be seen in the streets more often, Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber chairman Emil Macho told a news conference held in front of the Parliament's building on Thursday.

PM: Slovakia to Organise Repeated Mass Testing, Two Dozen Districts Exempt

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) – Slovakia will organise a repeated mass testing for the coronavirus, but districts with positivity rates below 0.7 percent in the testing this past weekend will be exempt from the second round, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) announced after a meeting of the Central Crisis Management

Fico: Slovakia to Receive €1 bn of €10-bn Package of EU Funds for Floods

Slovakia will receive €1 billion of the €10-billion package from EU cohesion funds to deal with the consequences of the recent floods, Premier Robert Fico, who attended on Thursday a meeting of premiers and the European Commission on floods in Wroclaw, Poland, told a press conference on Friday.

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