Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)
4. Towns in Slovakia after 1993
Towns in Slovakia after 1993 river valleys among the mountain peaks of the Carpathians. This curve forms the backbone of Slovak economy and population; this is the geographical belt towards which the human and economic movement in the areas to the south of it gravitates. The population movement, trade, exchange of goods and services of settlements in Southern Slovakia have one direction: from the south to the north. As a result of the German unification, the shortest way to get to Russia is no longer via Slovakia, which reduces its importance. What is more, the uncertain situation of Ukraine adds to the importance of Belarus, and thus to the importance of the communication corridors via Poland, from the point of view of European economic relations with Russia. The small size of Slovakia has also caused anxiety. Since 1989 the multipolar new world has been under a lot of uncertainty. For small countries such as Slovakia, safety is the most important from the point of view of economy, politics and defence. Eastern-Central European countries, however, have to be prepared to manage problems regarding democratic institutions and a social market economy as well as minority and ethnic conflicts, rather than military risks. The ability to maintain integrity is also crucial for Slovakia: it should not remain in the periphery of the European Union, either in an economic or in a political sense, and it should not worry about comparisons with its neighbouring countries, either. Besides all the different kinds of ambitions, there is one more, a traditional Slovak desire, which goes back to the national movement of the 19th century: if only Bratislava could be the European centre for the Slav territories (Korec 2003). Slovakia’s geopolitical weight can be examined, among other things, from the point of view of politics, economy and military force (Blažík 1997). Transportation will be analysed later. The politics of a country provide the general framework that is the result of recognizing the geopolitical situation. When Slovakia was declared independent, the primary question was to which geopolitical field it wished to belong. Due to its geographical location, the range of alternatives narrowed down to two, but the Slovak political élite tried both. One of them was to follow the eastern, i.e. Russian, centre. This meant restricted democracy and strong authoritarianism, and this was what the first governments were striving for. The consequences would have affected all the sectoral policies. This the European Union did not 98
