The changing face of Slovakia.

WHAT Rick Zednik, an American with Slovak roots, loved about Slovakia back in 1994 was that money was not as important as it is today."I was stunned to learn that a government minister still lived in a Petrzalka panelak [a suburban concrete apartment block], and didn't consider it to be a horrible fate," Zednik, one of the founders of The Slovak Spectator, said.

"I remember a young colleague from a middle-class family, who had never had dinner in a restaurant. Now, even teenagers hang out spending money in hip cafes and bars.

"Zednik, who has since published a book about Slovakia called A Country Lost, Then Found, recalls that one could spot a foreigner in Slovakia from across the street just by looking at their clothes."Now, Slovaks of all ages are more fashion-conscious," he said.

Economic progressA lot of Slovaks still think that their wages buy less today than before the 1989 fall of the communist regime. They are wrong.

Data of the Institute for Financial Policy showed the average net monthly wage in 1989 was 3,142 Czechoslovak crowns (approximately Pound 104). In 2018, the monthly average salary in Slovakia exceeded the Pound 1,000 threshold for the first time.

Food products are cheaper and more widely available now than under the communist regime. Older generations can still easily recall images of half-empty shelves at the grocery store.

To buy a basket containing 10 basic foodstuffs, Slovaks had to work one-quarter less in 2014 than they did under communism. The difference is even more visible in the case of clothing and home appliances.

While in the 1990s only two-thirds of households had an automatic washing machine, by 2014 the rate went up to 90 percent.Of course, under communism unemployment was basically non-existent jobs, even if artificially created, were taken for granted.

After a difficult three decades of high unemployment, the unemployment rate is a lot lower, and the country needs to import labour from abroad.Safer than beforeSlovakia is one of the safest countries in the world, according to Eurostat.

While the number of murders has been dropping, crime trends changed dramatically at the turn of the century, when the gangster-style politics of three-time prime minister Vladimir Meiar ended and Slovakia began pursuing European Union membership. Slovak roads have become safer as well.

In 2018, as many as 229 people died on the country's roads, while in 1998 that number stood at 819. The improvement comes amid stricter...