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Slovakia (/sloʊˈvækiə, -ˈvɑːk-/ ⓘ; Slovak: Slovensko [ˈslɔʋenskɔ] ⓘ), officially the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Slovenská republika [ˈslɔʋenskaː ˈrepublika] ⓘ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), hosting a population exceeding 5.4 million. Bratislava serves as the capital and largest city, while the second largest city is Košice.

The Slavs arrived in the territory of the present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. From the late 6th century, parts of modern Slovakia were incorporated in the Avar Khaghanate. In the 7th century, the Slavs played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire. In the 9th century, the Avar Khaghanate dissolved, and the Slavs established the Principality of Nitra, which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia, leading to the formation of Great Moravia. In the 10th century, after the dissolution of Great Moravia, the territory was integrated into the Principality of Hungary, which then became the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000. In 1241 and 1242, after the Mongol invasion of Europe, much of the territory was destroyed, but was recovered largely thanks to Béla IV.

After World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the state of Czechoslovakia was established, incorporating Slovakia. In the lead up to World War II, local fascist parties gradually came to power in the Slovak lands, and the first Slovak Republic was established as a puppet state under the control of Nazi Germany. The local Jewish population was heavily persecuted, with almost 70,000 Jews being murdered or deported. Internal opposition to the fascist government's policies culminated in the Slovak National Uprising, itself triggered by the Nazi German occupation of the country. Although the uprising was eventually suppressed, partisan resistance continued, and Czechoslovak independence was re-established after the country's liberation at the end of the war. (Full article...)

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The Slovak Three were Irishmen Michael Christopher McDonald, Declan John Rafferty and Fintan Paul O'Farrell, who were members of the Real IRA. They were arrested in a sting operation in Slovakia conducted by British security agency MI5 in 2001 after they were caught attempting to buy arms for their campaign. They believed they were purchasing weapons from Iraqi intelligence agents and that Saddam Hussein was to play a role in the Real IRA similar to the one Colonel Gadaffi had in its predecessors the Provisional IRA. The three men met in Piešťany, a spa town in Western Slovakia, after months of meetings and telephone calls—all of which were intercepted and overheard by MI6. Believing its case to be now fireproof, MI5 had passed details of the men and their intentions to the Slovak authorities, who ambushed the men on the evening of 5 July 2001 after their meeting. They were arrested and imprisoned in the expectation Slovakia would receive a formal extradition request from the UK.

McDonald, Rafferty and O'Farrell were extradited; at Woolwich Crown Court, London, they were tried and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Unusually for IRA men in British courts, they pleaded guilty. In 2006 they were transferred to Ireland to serve the remainder of their sentences in Portlaoise Prison. In 2014, however, it was discovered that some prisoners who had been transferred from the English penal system to the Irish one had not had their warrants adjusted to take into account Ireland's lack of any facility to release prisoners on licence. This resulted in anomalies between the lengths of their original sentences and what they were expected to serve in Ireland; after an appeal, the Irish High Court released McDonald, Rafferty and O'Farrell in September 2014. (Full article...)

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