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Slovakia vs. Ukraine

Government

SlovakiaUkraine
Country nameconventional long form: Slovak Republic

conventional short form: Slovakia

local long form: Slovenska republika

local short form: Slovensko

etymology: may derive from the medieval Latin word "Slavus" (Slav), which had the local form "Sloven", used since the 13th century to refer to the territory of Slovakia and its inhabitants
conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Ukraine

local long form: none

local short form: Ukraina

former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

etymology: name derives from the Old East Slavic word "ukraina" meaning "borderland or march (militarized border region)" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus)
Government typeparliamentary republicsemi-presidential republic
Capitalname: Bratislava

geographic coordinates: 48 09 N, 17 07 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology: the name was adopted in 1919 after Czechoslovakia gained its independence and may derive from later transliterations of the 9th century military commander, Braslav, or the 11th century Bohemian Duke Bretislav I; alternatively, the name may derive from the Slovak words "brat" (brother) and "slava" (glory)
name: Kyiv (Kiev)

geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E

time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

note: pronounced KAY-yiv

etymology: the name is associated with that of Kyi, who along with his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, are the legendary founders of the medieval city of Kyiv; Kyi being the eldest brother, the city was named after him
Administrative divisions8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banska Bystrica, Bratislava, Kosice, Nitra, Presov, Trencin, Trnava, Zilina24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities** (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol**, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment

note: the US Government does not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol"
Independence1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus); 1199 (Principality (later Kingdom) of Ruthenia formed; 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate); 22 January 1918 (from Soviet Russia)
National holidayConstitution Day, 1 September (1992)Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Constitutionhistory: several previous (preindependence); latest passed by the National Council 1 September 1992, signed 3 September 1992, effective 1 October 1992

amendments: proposed by the National Council; passage requires at least three-fifths majority vote of Council members; amended many times, last in 2020
history: several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996

amendments: proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2019
Legal systemcivil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; note - legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europecivil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage18 years of age; universal18 years of age; universal
Executive branchchief of state: President Zuzana CAPUTOVA (since 15 June 2019)

head of government: Prime Minister Eduard HEGER (since 1 April 2021); Deputy Prime Ministers Stefan HOLY, Veronika REMISOVA, Richard SULIK (all since 21 March 2020)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 16 March and 30 March 2019 (next to be held March 2024); following National Council elections (every 4 years), the president designates a prime minister candidate, usually the leader of the party or coalition that wins the most votes, who must win a vote of confidence in the National Council

election results: Zuzana CAPUTOVA reelected president in second round; percent of vote - Zuzana CAPUTOVA (PS) 58.4%, Maros SEFCOVIC (independent) 41.6%
chief of state: President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019)

head of government: Prime Minister Denys SHMYHAL (since 4 March 2020)

cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, approved by the Verkhovna Rada 

elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 31 March and 21 April 2019 (next to be held in March 2024); prime minister selected by the Verkhovna Rada

election results: first round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 30.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 15.6%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 13.4%, Yuriy BOYKO (Opposition Platform-For Life) 11.7%, 35 other candidates 29.1%; second round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 24.5%; Denys SHMYHAL (independent) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 291-59

note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president
Legislative branchdescription: unicameral National Council or Narodna Rada (150 seats; members directly elected in a single- and multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections: last held on 29 February 2020 (next to be held March 2024)

election results: percent of vote by party - OLaNO-NOVA 25%, Smer-SD 18.3%, Sme-Rodina 8.2%, LSNS 8%, PS-SPOLU 7%, SaS 6.2%, Za Ludi 5.8%, other 21.5%; seats by party - OLaNO-NOVA 53, Smer-SD 38, Sme-Rodina 17, LSNS 17, SaS 13, Za Ludi 12, PS-SPOLU 0; composition - men 120, women 30, percent of women 20%
description: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)

elections: last held on 21 July 2019 (next to be held in July 2024)

election results: percent of vote by party - Servant of the People 43.2%, Opposition Platform-For Life 13.1%, Batkivshchyna 8.2%, European Solidarity 8.1%, Voice 5.8%, other 21.6%; seats by party (preliminary) - Servant of the People 254, Oposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Samopomich 1, Svoboda 1, other parties 2, independent 46; note - voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 26 seats vacant; although this brings the total to 424 elected members (of 450 potential), article 83 of the constitution mandates that a parliamentary majority consists of 226 seats
Judicial branchhighest courts: Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 80 judges organized into criminal, civil, commercial, and administrative divisions with 3- and 5-judge panels); Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of 13 judges organized into 3-judge panels)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judge candidates nominated by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, an 18-member self-governing body that includes the Supreme Court chief justice and presidential, governmental, parliamentary, and judiciary appointees; judges appointed by the president serve for life subject to removal by the president at age 65; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Council of the Republic and appointed by the president; judges serve 12-year terms

subordinate courts: regional and district civil courts; Special Criminal Court; Higher Military Court; military district courts; Court of Audit;
highest courts: Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 100 judges, organized into civil, criminal, commercial and administrative chambers, and a grand chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices); High Anti-Corruption Court (consists of 39 judges, including 12 in the Appeals Chamber)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges recommended by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (a 16-member state body responsible for judicial candidate testing and assessment and judicial administration), submitted to the High Council of Justice, a 21-member independent body of judicial officials responsible for judicial self-governance and administration, and appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; High Anti-Corruption Court judges are selected by the same process as Supreme Court justices, with one addition - a majority of a combined High Qualification Commission of Judges and a 6-member Public Council of International Experts must vote in favor of potential judges in order to recommend their nomination to the High Council of Justice; this majority must include at least 3 members of the Public Council of International Experts; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the Congress of Judges, and by the Verkhovna Rada; judges serve 9-year nonrenewable terms

 



subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; district courts

note: specialized courts were abolished as part of Ukraine's judicial reform program; in November 2019, President ZELENSKYY signed a bill on legal reforms

Political parties and leadersChristian Democratic Movement or KDH [Alojz HLINA]
Bridge or Most-Hid [Bela BUGAR]
Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SD [Robert FICO]
For the People or Za Ludi [Andrej KISKA]
Freedom and Solidarity or SaS [Richard SULIK]
Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia or LSNS [Marian KOTLEBA]
Ordinary People and Independent Personalities - New Majority or OLaNO-NOVA [Igor MATOVIC]
Party of the Hungarian Community or SMK [Jozsef MENYHART]
Progressive Slovakia or PS [Michal TRUBAN]
Slovak National Party or SNS [Andrej DANKO]
Together or SPOLU [Miroslav BEBLAVY]
We Are Family or Sme-Rodina [Boris KOLLAR]
Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
European Solidarity (BPP-Solidarity) [Petro POROSHENKO]
Holos (Voice) [Sviatoslav VAKARCHUK]
Opposition Bloc or OB [Evgeny MURAYEV]
Opposition Platform-For Life [Yuriy BOYKO, Vadim RABINOVICH]
Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO]
Samopomich (Self Reliance) [Andriy SADOVYY]
Servant of the People [Oleksandr KORNIENKO]
Svoboda (Freedom) [Oleh TYAHNYBOK]
International organization participationAustralia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZCAustralia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the USchief of mission: Ambassador Radovan JAVORCIK (since 18 January 2021)

chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054

FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438

email address and website:
emb.washington@mzv.sk

https://www.mzv.sk/web/washington-en

consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York
chief of mission: Ambassador Oksana Serhiyivna MARKAROVA (since 7 July 2021)

chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone: [1] (202) 349-2963

FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817

email address and website:
emb_us@mfa.gov.ua; consul_us@mfa.gov.ua

https://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en

consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the USchief of mission: Ambassador Bridget A. BRINK (since 20 August 2019)

embassy: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava

mailing address: 5840 Bratislava Place, Washington DC  20521-5840

telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338

FAX: [421] (2) 5441-8861

email address and website:
consulbratislava@state.gov

https://sk.usembassy.gov/
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Kristina KVIEN (since January 2020)

embassy: 4 A. I. Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv

mailing address: 5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850

telephone: [380] (44) 521-5000

FAX: [380] (44) 521-5544

email address and website:
kyivacs@state.gov

https://ua.usembassy.gov/
Flag descriptionthree equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red derive from the Pan-Slav colors; the Slovakian coat of arms (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white double-barred cross of St. Cyril and St. Methodius surmounting three blue hills) is centered over the bands but offset slightly to the hoist side

note: the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia
two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow; although the colors date back to medieval heraldry, in modern times they are sometimes claimed to represent grain fields under a blue sky
National anthemname: "Nad Tatrou sa blyska" (Lightning Over the Tatras)

lyrics/music: Janko MATUSKA/traditional

note: adopted 1993, in use since 1844; music based on the Slovak folk song "Kopala studienku"
name: "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished)

lyrics/music: Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI

note: music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003
International law organization participationaccepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdictionhas not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
National symbol(s)double-barred cross (Cross of St. Cyril and St. Methodius) surmounting three peaks; national colors: white, blue, redtryzub (trident); national colors: blue, yellow
Citizenshipcitizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Slovakia

dual citizenship recognized: no

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine

dual citizenship recognized: no

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Source: CIA Factbook