Latest news with #IronCurtain
Entrepreneur
13 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Building Bridges: From Slovakia to the UAE
Dusan Elko's family business -which is now expanding into the UAE- proves that a successful entrepreneurship lies in cross-border collaboration, empathy-driven services, and the courage to evolve. You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. For over three decades, Dušan Elko has been at the helm of a family-run enterprise that bridges Eastern European caregiving talent with the growing needs of Western Europe's aging population. The family's journey—from his sister's initial role as a caregiver to becoming a renowned employer, headhunter, and clinic owner—exemplifies the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship. Remarkably, at the age of 77, Elko's mother continues to manage the office, embodying the family's enduring commitment. Now, with aspirations for global expansion, particularly in the UAE, Elko's story serves as a masterclass in reinvention, resilience, and foresight. Q: What inspired your journey into entrepreneurship? It all began in the early 1990s, just after the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe. Western Europe faced a significant demand for caregivers. Recognizing this opportunity, our family started employing skilled personnel from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, and Ukraine to work in private households in Germany. What started as a small operation initiated by my mother gradually evolved into one of the most respected recruitment companies and employers in the caregiving sector in Slovakia with abundance of vacancies at all times. Three decades is a long time in business. What's been the secret of the longevity of your business? Constant reinvention. The healthcare and caregiving landscape in Slovakia, and across Europe, has transformed significantly over the past decade. We've had to adapt creatively and quickly. For instance, when local demand for elderly care increased in Slovakia, we launched home caregiving services, which became an official implementation partner for EU-funded government programs led by the Ministry of Employment. Why are you now looking to the UAE and surrounding region for talent? Western Europe, particularly Germany, faces an acute aging crisis with a shrinking caregiving workforce. At the same time, Eastern Europe—our traditional labor source—is also experiencing similar demographic challenges. We realized we needed to look further. Filipino caregivers, for instance, are not only highly skilled and compassionate but also legally able to work in the EU through Slovakia, which can eventually lead to permanent residency and even citizenship. The UAE is a strategic bridge for this kind of talent migration. With Europe changing so fast, have you launched any new ventures to stay ahead? Absolutely. Identifying future trends—economic, social, and geopolitical—is key to staying competitive. One of our latest ventures is which provides advanced home nursing services, including physiotherapy, IV treatments, bloodwork, and injections. We've also leveraged our industry experience to launch an innovative dental and wellness clinic, bringing a holistic approach to health and eldercare. It's all part of our mission to evolve with the times. What's next on the horizon for your business? Building meaningful partnerships beyond Europe—especially in regions like the UAE—is our next chapter. We're not just recruiting talent anymore; we're creating a global caregiving ecosystem. With aging populations everywhere and growing demand for compassionate, high-quality care, we believe that Slovakia can be a key node in a much larger international network. And we're just getting started.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Trzaskowski: pro-EU polyglot eyeing Polish presidency
WARSAW: Centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, running neck-and-neck with his nationalist rival ahead of Poland's presidential runoff, is an avowed Europhile pledging to relax abortion laws and protect LGBTQ rights. Trzaskowski narrowly won the first round of voting on May 18, polling 31 percent against 30 percent for Karol Nawrocki, a historian backed by the conservative opposition. 'I promise you that I will be a president who unites, who is ready to talk to everyone,' Trzaskowski promised a crowd of supporters as he rallied for support a week before the runoff. A former deputy foreign minister, the 53-year-old is also the son of a jazz pioneer and great-grandson of the man who created Poland's first secondary schools for girls. Trzaskowski is backed by the governing Civic Coalition party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and will face off against Nawrocki, the Law and Justice candidate. Trzaskowski narrowly lost his first presidential bid in 2020 to the conservative Andrzej Duda, who backs Nawrocki. - Early start - Trzaskowski comes from an intellectual Warsaw family. His father Andrzej was a famous pianist during the 1950s, when jazz was considered the music of the 'enemy' under the Iron Curtain. Trzaskowski himself started out in politics in a seismic year for the former Soviet bloc -- 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. A teenager at the time, he quit school and worked as a volunteer campaigning during the first free elections in Poland, which marked the end of the communist era. He graduated from the University of Warsaw, where he later earned a doctorate with a thesis on EU reform. He has also studied in Oxford and Paris, and at the College of Europe outside Warsaw. He speaks English, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish and worked for a time as an English teacher. As a Francophile, he has even earned the nickname 'Bonjour', or hello in French -- a jab from critics who view Trzaskowski as elitist. In 2000, he worked on Poland's accession to the European Union, then became an adviser to the Civic Platform delegation in the European Parliament. He became an EU lawmaker in 2009, and in 2013 joined an earlier government led by Tusk, who went on to become president of the European Council. Trzaskowski first served as technology minister and then deputy foreign minister. As a member of the Polish parliament between 2015 and 2018, he was elected vice president of the European People's Party in 2017. Trzaskowski was elected mayor of Warsaw in 2018 and re-elected in 2024, but critics say he has failed to do enough while in office. - 'Absurd' - Trzaskowski, who is married with two children, has vowed to campaign for women's rights and legalise abortion in the predominantly Catholic country, which has a near-total ban on the procedure. In March, on International Women's Day, he promised to ensure that 'this medieval anti-abortion law becomes a thing of the past'. He has said he would back measures to allow abortion until the 12th week -- a move pledged by the Civic Coalition, which has yet to vote the changes through in parliament. On LGBTQ rights, another hot-button issue in Poland, Trzaskowski has said he backed the idea of civil unions, including for same-sex couples. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Poland for refusing to recognise and protect same-sex couples, who cannot marry or register their partnerships. In an election debate in April, Trzaskowski said it was 'completely absurd that two people... who are together their whole lives, cannot visit each other in the hospital or inherit from one another'. When he was elected Warsaw mayor, he signed an 'LGBT+ Declaration' promising to protect gay people, angering the country's right-wing nationalists, who campaign against a perceived 'LGBT ideology'. But as he tried to woo voters from across the political spectrum ahead of the runoff, he was photographed chatting over pints with far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen. In a Facebook post he once described his love of old books and stated that he had smoked marijuana in his youth but only 'rarely'. He owns a French bulldog named Babel ('Bubble'), with whom he frequently poses for photos.
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Trzaskowski: pro-EU polyglot eyeing Polish presidency
Trzaskowski narrowly won the first round of voting on May 18, polling 31 percent against 30 percent for Karol Nawrocki, a historian backed by the conservative opposition. "I promise you that I will be a president who unites, who is ready to talk to everyone," Trzaskowski promised a crowd of supporters as he rallied for support a week before the runoff. A former deputy foreign minister, the 53-year-old is also the son of a jazz pioneer and great-grandson of the man who created Poland's first secondary schools for girls. Trzaskowski is backed by the governing Civic Coalition party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and will face off against Nawrocki, the Law and Justice candidate. Trzaskowski narrowly lost his first presidential bid in 2020 to the conservative Andrzej Duda, who backs Nawrocki. Early start Trzaskowski comes from an intellectual Warsaw family. His father Andrzej was a famous pianist during the 1950s, when jazz was considered the music of the "enemy" under the Iron Curtain. Trzaskowski himself started out in politics in a seismic year for the former Soviet bloc -- 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. A teenager at the time, he quit school and worked as a volunteer campaigning during the first free elections in Poland, which marked the end of the communist era. He graduated from the University of Warsaw, where he later earned a doctorate with a thesis on EU reform. He has also studied in Oxford and Paris, and at the College of Europe outside Warsaw. He speaks English, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish and worked for a time as an English teacher. As a Francophile, he has even earned the nickname "Bonjour", or hello in French -- a jab from critics who view Trzaskowski as elitist. In 2000, he worked on Poland's accession to the European Union, then became an adviser to the Civic Platform delegation in the European Parliament. He became an EU lawmaker in 2009, and in 2013 joined an earlier government led by Tusk, who went on to become president of the European Council. Trzaskowski first served as technology minister and then deputy foreign minister. As a member of the Polish parliament between 2015 and 2018, he was elected vice president of the European People's Party in 2017. Trzaskowski was elected mayor of Warsaw in 2018 and re-elected in 2024, but critics say he has failed to do enough while in office. 'Absurd' Trzaskowski, who is married with two children, has vowed to campaign for women's rights and legalise abortion in the predominantly Catholic country, which has a near-total ban on the procedure. In March, on International Women's Day, he promised to ensure that "this medieval anti-abortion law becomes a thing of the past". He has said he would back measures to allow abortion until the 12th week -- a move pledged by the Civic Coalition, which has yet to vote the changes through in parliament. On LGBTQ rights, another hot-button issue in Poland, Trzaskowski has said he backed the idea of civil unions, including for same-sex couples. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Poland for refusing to recognise and protect same-sex couples, who cannot marry or register their partnerships. In an election debate in April, Trzaskowski said it was "completely absurd that two people... who are together their whole lives, cannot visit each other in the hospital or inherit from one another". When he was elected Warsaw mayor, he signed an "LGBT+ Declaration" promising to protect gay people, angering the country's right-wing nationalists, who campaign against a perceived "LGBT ideology". But as he tried to woo voters from across the political spectrum ahead of the runoff, he was photographed chatting over pints with far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen. In a Facebook post he once described his love of old books and stated that he had smoked marijuana in his youth but only "rarely". He owns a French bulldog named Babel ("Bubble"), with whom he frequently poses for photos. © 2025 AFP
Gulf Insider
3 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Slovak PM Fico Warns EU's "Mandatory Political Opinion" Spells End Of Common European Project
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico delivered a stark warning to fellow European leaders during his speech at CPAC Hungary in Budapest on Thursday, declaring that the European Union's attempt to impose a 'mandatory political opinion' on its member states signals the collapse of the European project and a departure from democratic values. 'The imposition of a mandatory political opinion, the abolition of the veto, the punishment of the sovereign and the brave, the new Iron Curtain, the preference for war over peace. This is the end of the common European project. This is a departure from democracy. This is the precursor of a huge military conflict,' he warned. Fico's remarks came as he revealed both he and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had received threats from 'a particularly nervous new German chancellor,' who warned them that if they did not fall in line with Brussels' uniform view on military support for Ukraine and sanctioning Russia, ''You will be punished.'' 'No one in a peaceful and democratic project should have the right to treat other EU member states in this way, regardless of their size and economic strength,' he said. Fico, a veteran of Slovak politics who survived an assassination attempt last year, framed his overall remarks as a defense of national sovereignty in the face of what he described as increasing aggression from Brussels and major EU powers. 'I do not want to see our sovereignty and the national identity melt away in the generalist supranational, international structures, especially those in Brussels,' he said. While acknowledging his left-wing roots, Fico distanced himself from what he called the 'Brussels kind' of social democracy, instead describing himself as a 'rural socialist' focused on defending Slovakia's traditions, Christian heritage, and national interests. 'As a strong leftist, I have no problem spending the night with the people on the production line to support higher night shift allowances or wage increases,' he said. Click here to read more…
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
The original picture discs that could get you thrown in a Soviet jail
Take out your earpods for a sec – really – so I can tell you a crazy story. (Or smack you – you should be more aware of your surroundings.) Music today is, of course, a commodity almost as readily available as water on tap – click a button or two and pretty much anything you can think of is yours to listen to. In the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 60s, authorities allowed only state-approved music, banning genres they considered decadent. Now imagine another place and time, the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 60s, where no music was allowed. (OK, I exaggerate: state-approved music was allowed but not even parents wanted to listen to that dreck – anything actually good was forbidden. Western radio stations were jammed, rock music was banned, records were confiscated at the border.) The authorities tried to seal off all of that Western decadence outside the Iron Curtain. But the pressure of rock 'n' roll was hard to contain, and inevitably the wall leaked. A lot. Especially in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), a Soviet port town dripping with incoming Western indulgence. Ships arrived with smuggled records (and worth-their-weight-in-gold Levi's jeans, as well as just about anything else cool from the West) in sailors' duffel bags and diplomatic pouches. Beatles records, along with those of other Western artists, had to be smuggled into the Soviet Union. Photo: AP Sooner or later you could find somebody who had smuggled in the latest Elvis or Beatles 45 record, and if you had enough roubles, and were willing to risk getting busted, that vinyl could be yours.
