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.
Prisons in Slovakia
In 2011 the average cost of imprisoning one person in Slovakia was 37.26 euro per day. Each prisoner and detainee is obliged by law to pay 3.09 euro per day, an obligation that many people manage to evade. The total unpaid sum rose to 11.7 million euro as of June 2011.