Meciar lost the prime ministership in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in March 1994 because of a failing economy and his increasingly authoritarian rule, but after general elections a few months later, he was able to form a new coalition government.
Immediately after the elections, Meciar cancelled the sale of state-owned enterprises, halted Slovakia's privatisation scheme and threatened independent radio stations and newspapers with legal action if they dared criticise the government. Not surprisingly, many Slovaks started to lose patience with Meciar's heavy-handed rule. The passing of anti-democratic laws brought criticism from various human rights organisations, European leaders and US President Clinton.
The elections of 1998 saw Meciar ousted by the reform-minded Mikulés Dzurinda, leader of the right-leaning Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK). He has had a rough time as prime minister, dogged by poor economic performance, high unemployment and ethnic tensions with the country's Hungarian and Roma minorities, while trying to hold together his fragile coalition.
Nevertheless, Dzurinda has managed to put Slovakia back on track to join the rest of Europe, having opened negotiations with the EU in February 2000. Opinion polls at the time showed that 70% of Slovaks supported their country's bid to join the EU, and for the first time there was also a majority - albeit a slender one - in favour of joining NATO.


Culture
After almost 900 years of Hungarian domination, a 19th-century National Revival commenced with the creation of the Slovak literary language by the nationalist L'udovít Stúr. This enabled the emergence of a Slovak national consciousness. One of the leading artists in the revival was poet Pavol O Hviezdoslav, whose works have been translated into several languages. Slovakia's architectural wonders include the Gothic St James Church in Levoca and the magnificent Renaissance buildings in Bardejov. Traditional Slovak folk instruments include the fujara (a 2m/6.5ft-long flute), the gajdy (bagpipes) and the konkovka (a strident shepherd's flute). Folk songs helped preserve the Slovak language during Hungarian rule, and in East Slovakia ancient folk traditions still play an important part in village life.
Religion is taken pretty seriously by the folksy Slovaks. Catholics are in a majority but Protestants and Evangelicals are also numerous. In East Slovakia there are many Greek Catholics and Orthodox believers. There are only a few thousand Jews in Slovakia today: some 73,500 Slovak Jews were removed to concentration camps by the Nazi SS and the Slovak Hlinka guards. After the war most survivors left for Israel. Slovakia's Romany gypsies escaped deportation but many have left for the Czech Republic where jobs have been easier to come by.