Slovakia
The Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic went their separate ways after 1 January 1993, an event sometimes called the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia has remained a close partner with the Czech Republic. Both countries co-operate with Hungary and Poland in the Visegrád Group. Slovakia became a member of NATO on 29 March 2004 and of the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2009, Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency.
Slovak mafia
In 1989, Czechoslovakia overthrew communism, and in 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic separated. In the first half of the 1990s, the issue of organized crime was underrated and legislature concerning the fight against it was inadequate. Crime rates in Slovakia soared in the 1990s, and the first post-communist gangsters emerged. At the time of the 1994-1998 Vladimír Mečiar's government, organized crime became well established in the country and it penetrated the highest political positions. An often cited example is the Slovak Secret Service under Ivan Lexa and his deputy Jaroslav Svěchota.