Tamara Kaňuchová

I am a journalist from Bratislava, Slovakia, currently based in Amsterdam working in investigative journalism for Vsquare, PulseZ and for a European newsletter The European Correspondent.

Highlights

The European Correspondent •

Turning crisis into clean energy: Ukraine's war-time transition

Winter in wartime is challenging, especially with recurring energy outages due to low temperatures, while trying to rebuild damaged infrastructure. While Ukraine struggles to keep the lights on, green transition doesn't really sound like a priority.”Over 18 gigawatt of generating capacity was lost (since 2022), including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility,” said Yuliia Rybak, programme manager of the UNDP Green Energy Recovery Programme in Ukraine, to The Eur...

Hungry for nuclear deals – but with whom? | The European Correspondent

As efforts to reverse the 40-year-long trend of disinvestment in Europe's nuclear sector are intensifying, the demand for skilled workers is quickly growing.Yet, most of Europe's nuclear experts joined the sector during the big nuclear era in the 70s and 80s and are set to retire soon. To fill the gap, the European Commission plans to create jobs in the transition of industries, which will require intensive re-skilling and training. Intensified investments in the nuclear field should attract a n...

How to get kicked out of the European socialist party | The European Correspondent

Making headlines for its controversial stances on gender, adoption and NGOs, Slovakia's governing Smer party looks like your average right-wing populist party. Yet, to many people's surprise, its official political orientation is quite different, as the full name suggests: Smer – Social Democracy.
The designated centre-left party has now fully swerved from its label, as it has been permanently kicked out of the Party of European Socialists (PES), an EU-level umbrella alliance for socialist, soci...
Pulse Z •

Europe 1914 vs 2025: Christmas Truce vs Modern-Time War - PulseZ

In the film The Monuments Men, the silence of World War II on Christmas Eve, when the fighting has temporarily ceased and people are in the camps, some decide to play the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” over the loudspeakers, sung so softly that it seems to break the frostiness if anyone breathes too loudly. The promise of the song – “next year all our troubles will be out of sight” — is the kind of phrase that sounds almost illegal when history is in turmoil. This is the strange,...
VSquare.org •

24/7 Russian Propaganda Blitz Hit Moldova Before the Elections - VSquare.org

On the night of Sunday, September 28, 2025, the Moldovan parliamentary election day, many people were holding their breath, waiting for the final results to roll in. Moldovans had faced months, if not years, of an information onslaught at levels beyond what just about any society has faced. In the end, the pro-European ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won 50.2% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc managed only 24.2%, despite well-documented foreign interference, mainly fr...

The summer of discovering misused EU funding | The European Correspondent

But about a month ago, it came to light that some of this money had allegedly been spent on luxury yachts and tanning machines by restaurant owners, who defended their purchases as “diversifying their business”. However, the communication of the issue is as murky as the funding allocation. As a businessman told the Polish outlet Wyborcza, diversification was one of the goals of the funding, and he was not supposed to spend money on anything related to his business.
Poland qualified for almost €6...

Lights, camera, learn! Movies teach more than meets the eye | The European Correspondent

In the pursuit of using culture for political purposes, politicians decide ”who is going to be producing art or not, who is going to be supported”, explained Pavesi.For proof of this statement, look to Slovakia: just a few months into office, the Slovak culture ministry, led by a nationalist politician, took control over the funding system and dismissed 50% of cultural workers not playing by the state rules, including directors of the biggest cultural institutions​​.
”We have reached a point of...
The European Correspondent •

Turning crisis into clean energy: Ukraine's war-time transition

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Being supported by you and many other readers keeps us free from political or corp...
VSquare.org •

Climate Summit Shadows: Corruption and Censorship in Azerbaijan - VSquare.org

“Western politicians have to change their attitude towards Azerbaijan,” says exiled journalist Leyla Mustafayeva, whose colleagues remain behind bars in Azerbaijan, where world leaders gathered for the COP29 summit to discuss climate solutions. Despite the global spotlight, Azerbaijan’s relentless crackdown continued, with new arrests and fabricated charges targeting journalists and activists in a chilling display of power.

World leaders, lobbyists and businessmen gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan...
The Newsroom 27 •

The rebirth of Bratislava public baths

After decades of abandonment, this emblematic building of the Slovak capital is the subject of an ambitious restoration project.

Tamara Kaňuchová

Français/Slovenčina
Imagine a historical place that the citizens know about without ever having been there. Used in its original function by their ancestors, immortalized over the ages by artists, the city bath of Grössling holds this legendary dimension in Bratislava’s people hearts.
After decades of desertion and decline, the capital c...

Published articles

The European Correspondent •

Your home is leaking money

In the EU, 75% of buildings are energy inefficient – they're poorly insulated or dependent on fossil fuels. For low and middle-income households, this means a stronger burden on monthly utility bills.One of the most prominent solutions to improve energy efficiency is the heat pump. The most common air-source (as opposed to water-source) heat pump runs on electricity and moves heat by capturing air, compressing it into gas to increase the temperature, and then releasing it indoors via an air-fan....
The European Correspondent •

Turning crisis into clean energy: Ukraine's war-time transition

Winter in wartime is challenging, especially with recurring energy outages due to low temperatures, while trying to rebuild damaged infrastructure. While Ukraine struggles to keep the lights on, green transition doesn't really sound like a priority.”Over 18 gigawatt of generating capacity was lost (since 2022), including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility,” said Yuliia Rybak, programme manager of the UNDP Green Energy Recovery Programme in Ukraine, to The Eur...
The European Correspondent •

How to share energy with your neighbour

Take Ukraine: as Russia's war against it wages on, power plants remain a strategic targets, proving the importance of innovative solutions.The destruction of the old energy infrastructure has presented an opportunity to rebuild the grid in a more decentralised way – powered by various smaller sources instead of a one large central power plant. That significantly boosts the grid's security.
Energy sharing goes hand in hand with decentralisation – it enables citizens to directly leverage small pow...
The European Correspondent •

Domestic flights make a quiet comeback

When Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline announced new routes to Bratislava last year, it came with a familiar punchline: “Not sure where Bratislava is? Perfect. Go find out for €16.99.” And many seem to listen.
A competing low-cost airline, Wizz Air, also stepped up operations in Slovakia, launching a new connection between Bratislava and Košice, the country's second biggest city, close to the border with Hungary. The flight covers 313 kilometres in around 40 minutes, while a train takes...
VSquare.org •

Blackmail Allegations and a Million Signatures: Babiš’s Government Already Under Fire - VSquare.org

Not even two months into office, Andrej Babiš’s coalition government — made up of ANO, SPD, and the Motorists party — is already facing a wave of protests. Demonstrations are directed not only against the coalition’s decisions, but also in support of President Petr Pavel. Babiš is juggling his own scandals alongside growing tensions between the president and several ministers, all while the Czech Republic’s foreign policy appears increasingly inconsistent and improvised.
The protest movement Mil...

Big oil’s retreat from renewables | The European Correspondent

For a moment there, it looked promising for the EU's sustainability goals to cut down our energy dependency on fossils. Even the big oil and gas companies were on board, setting their own targets to match the common green vision. But now, it's hard to miss the pattern – they've been quietly retreating from renewables and reverting back to fossil fuels.
Let's take Shell, Europe's biggest oil and gas company: first, the company lowered its emissions reduction target from 20% to 15-20% by the end...

How to get kicked out of the European socialist party | The European Correspondent

Making headlines for its controversial stances on gender, adoption and NGOs, Slovakia's governing Smer party looks like your average right-wing populist party. Yet, to many people's surprise, its official political orientation is quite different, as the full name suggests: Smer – Social Democracy.
The designated centre-left party has now fully swerved from its label, as it has been permanently kicked out of the Party of European Socialists (PES), an EU-level umbrella alliance for socialist, soci...

A fine for walking too fast? | The European Correspondent

“Slovakia adopts a speed limit for pedestrians” – this and similar headlines went viral on the internet just two weeks ago. So you can’t run to catch the bus anymore? How are they going to measure the walking speed?
My friends – and half the internet – were asking the same thing after Slovakia passed a law setting the sidewalk speed limit to 6 km/h.
But a closer look shows the rule isn't as bizarre as it first sounds. The “walking speed” is just a reference point of speed limit for all other veh...

An unexpected place of refuge | The European Correspondent

Why libraries? They remain one of the few spaces in Latvia that are open to everyone, and are small enough to feel like a safe place to speak up, Ivanova told The European Correspondent.
”We hope [victims] find a safe space in our community, so they come to other events just because they have this feeling of safety, that people around them are ready to listen, are ready to help,” she explained.
In Latvia, parents can take up to 18 months of paid parental leave – one of the Europe's longest. But...

Hungry for nuclear deals – but with whom? | The European Correspondent

As efforts to reverse the 40-year-long trend of disinvestment in Europe's nuclear sector are intensifying, the demand for skilled workers is quickly growing.Yet, most of Europe's nuclear experts joined the sector during the big nuclear era in the 70s and 80s and are set to retire soon. To fill the gap, the European Commission plans to create jobs in the transition of industries, which will require intensive re-skilling and training. Intensified investments in the nuclear field should attract a n...

Xmas cookies under X-rays | The European Correspondent

Instead of looking for baking advice from your neighbour, their aunt or the aunt's Facebook group, let's see what experts say about the factors that make cookies taste really good.To see what makes a pepernoot good, Bruker, an American company known for high-resolution 3D X-ray imaging, ran the cookie through X-ray microscopy (XRM). The point isn't to ruin the Christmas magic, but to quantify it: the measurements are used to sharpen the recipe and keep quality consistent from batch one to batch...
Pulse Z •

Europe 1914 vs 2025: Christmas Truce vs Modern-Time War - PulseZ

In the film The Monuments Men, the silence of World War II on Christmas Eve, when the fighting has temporarily ceased and people are in the camps, some decide to play the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” over the loudspeakers, sung so softly that it seems to break the frostiness if anyone breathes too loudly. The promise of the song – “next year all our troubles will be out of sight” — is the kind of phrase that sounds almost illegal when history is in turmoil. This is the strange,...
VSquare.org •

The Comeback of Andrej Babiš: How He Won Again and What Comes Next in Prague - VSquare.org

Andrej Babiš staged his comeback by focusing on welfare, pensions, and healthcare, appealing to his aging base while largely avoiding issues like defense or foreign policy. His ANO movement absorbed anti-establishment voters by mobilizing peripheral regions without embracing the far-left and the far-right’s extreme rhetoric.
The last two years have seen voters across Europe head to the polls at an unprecedented frequency. With the steady stream of elections there has been a consistent threat of...
VSquare.org •

24/7 Russian Propaganda Blitz Hit Moldova Before the Elections - VSquare.org

On the night of Sunday, September 28, 2025, the Moldovan parliamentary election day, many people were holding their breath, waiting for the final results to roll in. Moldovans had faced months, if not years, of an information onslaught at levels beyond what just about any society has faced. In the end, the pro-European ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won 50.2% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc managed only 24.2%, despite well-documented foreign interference, mainly fr...

The summer of discovering misused EU funding | The European Correspondent

But about a month ago, it came to light that some of this money had allegedly been spent on luxury yachts and tanning machines by restaurant owners, who defended their purchases as “diversifying their business”. However, the communication of the issue is as murky as the funding allocation. As a businessman told the Polish outlet Wyborcza, diversification was one of the goals of the funding, and he was not supposed to spend money on anything related to his business.
Poland qualified for almost €6...

Lights, camera, learn! Movies teach more than meets the eye | The European Correspondent

In the pursuit of using culture for political purposes, politicians decide ”who is going to be producing art or not, who is going to be supported”, explained Pavesi.For proof of this statement, look to Slovakia: just a few months into office, the Slovak culture ministry, led by a nationalist politician, took control over the funding system and dismissed 50% of cultural workers not playing by the state rules, including directors of the biggest cultural institutions​​.
”We have reached a point of...
VSquare.org •

Central Europe at a Crossroads: Insights from GLOBSEC Trends 2025 with Katarína Klingová - VSquare.org

The GLOBSEC Trends 2025 report analyzes public attitudes across Central and Eastern Europe on topics such as security, perceived internal and external threats, and trust in media, government institutions, and NGOs. The findings are based on nationally representative surveys conducted between February and March 2025. Countries included in the report are Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Katarína Klingová, a senior research fellow at...
The European Correspondent •

The powers of the year’s shortest night — The European Correspondent

23 June 2025 What do you imagine as a celebration of the shortest night of the year? Is it the Ari Aster’s horror film, taking inspiration from the Scandinavian Midsommar, full of flowers and death, or something like Slovakia, where people set bonfires, sing and dance and jump over the fire all night long? In Slovakia, "Svätojánska" night (Saint John’s night) is magical. Taking place on the night from 23 to 24 June, shortly after the summer solstice, according to pagan traditions, it symbolises...
Pulse Z •

My articles on PulseZ

Connecting the dotsWill Kanye West Perform on a Field in Bratislava?Big news in the music industry - controversial musician Kanye West is coming to Bratislava! Or maybe not. At the moment, people who bought tickets have no idea if any event is taking place. 4 min




Current affairsPower Play in The Hague: NATO Goes All InReporting on the main outcomes and events from the NATO summit in the Hague, the Netherlands, taking place on 24-25th of June.4 min...
Pulse Z •

Will Kanye West Perform on a Field in Bratislava? - Pulse Z

The first to react were activists from Peace for Ukraine and Cities for Democracy who started a petition against Ye’s performance for his history of antisemitic and extremist posts. At the time of writing, the petition received more than 6000 signatures.
The activists were asking the municipality and mayor of Bratislava to stop Ye from performing at the festival. They brought up his May release song titled “Heil Hitler”, his sale of swastika t-shirts in Germany as the only available products and...
Pulse Z •

Power Play in The Hague: NATO Goes All In - Pulse Z

What was the main thing you heard about the NATO summit in The Hague over 24th and 25th of June? Was it the agreement on increasing the defense budget to 5% by the NATO countries’ leaders? Or was it the extreme safety measures, under the nickname Orange Shield, which led the city to close off entire sections of the city, making this the biggest security operation in Dutch history? 
The world leaders of all 32 NATO countries came, including representatives of Ukraine along with president Zelensky...
Pulse Z •

Secret Operations or Diplomacy? An Analysis of Recent Developments in Ukraine - Pulse Z

As you read this fallen soldiers are returning to Ukraine as a huge exchange negotiated in Istanbul, Turkey develops. More than 1200 days into the war, over 1200 bodies of soldiers were already returned at the time of writing. It marks one of the biggest war victim returns of the war. Meanwhile, in the city of Sumy, the Ukrainian forces are pushing back the Russian forces, opening a new front in the northeastern part of the country.
“Unfortunately, we do not have enough air defense systems to ti...
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