The speech was given at the 24th congress of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia in Nitra on 28 June 2013.

Honourable Mr. Chairman, dear ladies, esteemed gentlemen,
first women, first men, citizens of municipalities, friends and companions!

I am glad that the 24th congress of ZMOS is taking place in Nitra, the cradle of Slovak statehood.

  1. In January 1990, I registered with a colleague in ZMOS. The organization was supposed to protect local interests and ensure a dignified life for residents. After 23 years, we have an overpriced, rigid public administration without citizens’ trust and a society in crisis.
  2. The state transferred a burden of competencies to municipalities without adequate resources. It did not solve and did not take into account the needs of Slovak municipalities. The reform that was implemented was not suitable. Compared with the EU, we spend a disproportionate share of the state budget on state administration and police. What are we afraid of? Who do we need the most? Yet for education and people’s healthcare there is apparently no money.
  3. According to Eurostat, Slovakia is the state with the highest income per capita compared to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary... We are among the wealthy countries of the world. Have you noticed that we have wealthy municipalities and satisfied citizens?
  4. Slovakia has an economic strength of more than 73% of the EU average, but wages reach less than a third of the EU average. Where is the rest of the money? How can it then be said that there is no money?
  5. The Bratislava self-governing region is in 7th place in terms of economic strength in the EU (measured by GDP per capita). Regional solidarity? What about the Prešov self-governing region? Bratislava region surpassed Vienna and Paris. Does that mean Bratislava is showier than Vienna? No!
  6. We have high unemployment. A fact that is artificial. There is, on the contrary, enough work. The only thing is that people’s purchasing power is weak. Every 1% increase in unemployment means a 0.8% increase in suicidality. Then what is an appropriate unemployment rate?
  7. We have a minimum wage that is inconsistent with Slovakia’s international commitments. Even a twofold increase in salaries would not remove discrimination. It would increase demand for services, goods and new workers. Finally, it would pay to work, which former governments had falsely promoted. The World Bank confirmed to them that it is not possible to reduce so-called “generous” social benefits. Real wages must be increased!
  8. We have no new generation. Children are not being born. Fertility is like during World War II. Pronatalist policy? 30–40% of school graduates do not work. Are we interested in them? What will become of them? - We have, or rather we do not have, a municipal economy—social nonprofit enterprise, which in the EU employs 7% of the workforce. What percentage is that in Slovakia? They say it distorts competition on the market? Profitability in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, municipal waste transport? Nonsense! - Slovaks do not trust their own government. We have the lowest trust in politicians among the most developed countries grouped in the OECD. - We are unhealthy. Slovak men and women have only 3 years of healthy life remaining after reaching age 65. In the Czech Republic and in Europe, it is 9 years. - We are unhappy. We are ranked 129th on the world happiness index and are last within the OECD. The countries that Slovakia sends foreign aid to have happier populations. Is this a waste of money? Shouldn’t we finally help our own people? - A minister in Slovakia admits age discrimination, that is, a breach of commitments to the EU and the UN—is this not the spreading of hatred? Young people want to push older people out of work. Whom? After all, most people at age 57 already do not work. - We have no solidarity between rich and poor people, no solidarity between regions, hostility is being cultivated between generations, we are dying out, families are punished for having children! - Where is the future? Where is a truly sustainable dignified life? Our society is basically in the same state it was in November 1989. What the country has now reached is only high unemployment. - On 20 November 1989, Milan Kňažko spoke about: “…a crisis in society, a decline in the level of education, poor health and social care, tension between generations, a moral crisis, unfair wages, the spreading of falsehood, unjustified privileges and the need to replace fake democracy with real democracy.” And today? - Let us make deputies accountable—let us change the electoral system so that politicians are responsible to the voter and not only to party leaders and the people who own the party! Students ask me whether society was worse before 1989. I answered: “Then we had ideals.” Today?
    • We need to start! Start changing this state, this society, working with people and for people. This crisis is not caused by a natural disaster; it is a misfortune caused purely by greed and inhumanity. Let us make life more dignified and society more just.
    • Each of us is responsible for ourselves, for our own family, for the municipality in which we live, for the region, but also for the state, for Europe, and ultimately we are responsible to each other, to everyone!

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

doc. RNDr. Miloslav Hetteš, CSc. Founding chairman of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia