Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic

Slovačka Republika kao zemlja sličnih geografskih i povijesnih obilježja te unutarnjopolitičkih i vanjskopolitičkih procesa interesantna je za komparativnu analizu s Republikom Hrvatskom. Ciljevi njezine vanjske politike orijentirani su primarno na pristup euroatlanskim integracijama, prije svega EU i NATO. Osim zadanih vanjskopolitičkih ciljeva, striktno su određeni načini provođenja vanjske politike, kao i harmonogrami kada se očekuje ispunjavanje zadanih ciljeva. Suradnja Slovačke Republike sa susjedima, posebice kroz Višegradsku skupinu, jedan je od glavnih načina kojim se vanjska politika Slovačke Republike koristi iskustvima drugih. Zasad se zahtijevani uvjeti za prijem u članstvo EU i NATO ispunjavaju po zadanom harmonogramu. Unatoč konsenzusu svih političkih subjekata kad je u pitanju vanjska politika Slovačke Republike, jedino moguće usporavanje u provođenju vanjske politike može doći uslijed nestabilnosti vladajuće koalicije u nastupajućem predizbornom razdoblju.The Slovak Republic is interesting for the comparative analysis with the Republic of Croatia as it is a country that has similar geographical and historical characteristics and also similar processes in the internal and foreign policy. The goals in its foreign policy are primarily oriented to the accession to Euroatlantic integration, before all to EU and NATO. Apart from the set goals in the foreign policy, the methods are strictly determined by which the foreign policy is conducted, as well as the harmogrammes when the set goals are expected to be fulfilled. The co-operation of the Slovak Republic with the neighbours, especially in the context of the Vysegrad group, is one of the main methods through which the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic is benefited by experience of others. So far the requested conditions for the accession to the membership to EU and NATO have been fulfilled according to the set harmogramme. In spite of the consensus of all the political subjects, when the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic is concerned, the only possible retardation in conduct of the foreign policy can occur due to instability of the governing coalition in the forthcoming pre-election period

Ten Years of Interstate Relations Between the Republic of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro

Republika Hrvatska i Srbija i Crna Gora počele su razvijati međudržavne bilateralne odnose i prije međusobnog priznanja. Nakon međusobnog priznanja i uspostave diplomatskih odnosa međudržavni odnosi se intenziviraju, a koncentracija tih odnosa je na normalizaciji i saniranju posljedica agresije i oružanih sukoba i raspada bivše zajedničke države. Glavna otvorena pitanja povratak izbjeglih, nestale osobe, granica, sukcesija rješavaju se danas na stručnoj razini, bez političkih ili pravnih prepreka, a međudržavni odnosi se sve više fokusiraju na gospodarsku suradnju, suradnju u regiji i suradnju u području euroatlantskih integracija.The Republics of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro started to develop bilateral relations even before their mutual recognition. Following recognition and the restatement of diplomatic relations, interstate relations have intensified and concentrated on normalization and improvement following the consequences of war and aggression and disintegration of the former common state. The remaining open questions such as the return of refugees, missing persons, borders etc., are getting solved by experts to alleviate political and legal obstacles. Interstate relations are focusing more focused on economic, regional cooperation as well as cooperation in the field of euro Atlantic integrations

High-pressure effects on the Diels-Alder reaction in room temperature ionic liquids

The effect of pressure on the Diels-Alder reaction was examined in room temperature ionic liquids, followed by high-pressure FT-IR spectroscopy using pressures up to 150 MPa. Pressure enhances the kinetic sensitivity of the reaction. The kinetic effect of fluorophobic interactions was examined using ionic liquids with fluorous cations. Ionic liquids in combination with ZnI2 as a Lewis acid catalyst were also studied under high pressure

Point contact spectroscopy of superconductors via nanometer scale point contacts formed by resistive switching

Point contact spectroscopy is commonly used to investigate electronic properties of superconductors. Here we show that nanometer scale point contacts, which enable to study the superconductor properties locally, can be created by means of the resistive switching phenomenon. Our experiments were performed on sandwiched MgB2/Al/TiO2/Pt structures, where multiple bipolar resistive switching cycles were conducted. The differential conductance as a function of voltage was measured at temperatures below the critical temperature of the MgB2 superconductor. In the low-resistance state the MgB2 and Pt electrodes are connected by an ultrathin metallic filament which creates at the MgB2 electrode the Sharvin point contact with diameter below 10 nm. In this case the differential conductance data demonstrate the Andreev reflections due to the carrier transport between the superconducting MgB2 electrode and filament. From these data the two-gap superconductivity of MgB2 is clearly visible which also confirms the fit by the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model. If the bottom electrode is made of a superconductor with known gap, our approach allows us to estimate from the Andreev reflection spectrum the resistance of both the filament and point contact. We can then determine from the Sharvin formula the cross-section size of the point contact and thus also the filament cross-section size. In the high resistance state when the filament is ruptured, the differential conductance data demonstrate the spectrum typical for tunneling between two normal metals, with a zero-bias anomaly due to the Altshuler-Aronov effect. This suggests that the filament is not ruptured at the superconducting MgB2 electrode but elsewhere