Great gap between the capital and Slovakia's provinces

The gap between the prosperous region of Bratislava and the poorer Slovak provinces is constantly growing, the liberal daily Sme notes: "Slovakia must grow like an Asian tiger in order to develop the regions east of Bratislava. … The problem stems from the times when the country was modernised, industrialised and controlled from the centre and was finally transformed from a dinosaur of the arms industry to a global power in car production. The result is an economic structure that is sensitive to shocks. When things are not going well in the world then they are even worse here. When things are going well they're even better in Slovakia. At least from a statistical point of view. There are regional differences everywhere. But we joined the European Union also in a bid to diminish these differences. So far we have failed to make use of this opportunity."

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