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

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

Being supported by you and many other readers keeps us free from political or corporate influence. It means our correspondents can report independently and shine a light on the misdeeds of those in power. We can only produce the newsletter with your support – and work towards the bigger project: building true European media.In this crucial year for Europe, we hope you’ll choose to support us. Become a donor now!

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...

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...

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 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 •

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...
Pulse Z •

Reporting on Trends From the Globsec Forum Prague 2025 - Pulse Z

Where else to go for the newest developments on defense, security, AI and information threats and much more than the annual Globsec Forum. This year was even a little more special, as the conference celebrated its 20th anniversary and the biggest edition. More than 2000 participants, including politicians, technology, military and defense experts, journalists, analysts gathered in Prague to discuss the future Europe is heading to. Under the topic, “Commanding (in) Chaos: Time for Europe to Step...

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...
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...
Pulse Z •

From Protected to Plated: Carpathian Bears Face Grim Fate - Pulse Z

27 experts from 9 EU countries are warning that the newly allowed shooting of 350 brown bears from Slovakia’s 1300 estimated individuals will harm the stability of the population. Multiple conservationist NGOs sued the Ministry of Environment over 62 bears that are now allowed to be shot. In the most recent news, the culled brown bears’ meat will be up for sale for restaurants.
Greenpeace Slovakia teamed up with Greenpeace Poland and are asking the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, and th...
The European Correspondent •

Student-made invention tackles river pollution — The European Correspondent

14 April 2025 European rivers are more toxic than you could think – the water often contains antibiotics and bacteria that have learned to resist them. Antimicrobial resistance is a serious issue which could lead to ten million deaths annually by 2050. Less than 40% of Europe's surface water – such as rivers and lakes – is considered healthy. Scientists have been racking their brains over developing a solution to this problem. Now, two high school students have cracked the mystery – and won the...
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...
The European Correspondent •

Lights, camera, learn! Movies teach more than meets the eye

Being supported by you and many other readers keeps us free from political or corporate influence. It means our correspondents can report independently and shine a light on the misdeeds of those in power. We can only produce the newsletter with your support – and work towards the bigger project: building true European media.In this crucial year for Europe, we hope you’ll choose to support us. Become a donor now!

Being supported by you and many other readers keeps us free from political or corp...
The European Correspondent •

A protected species on your plate — The European Correspondent

02 June 2025 Slovakia's populist government loves to turn whatever it can into a political issue. Most recently, it did so with the country's brown bear population – by allowing the reselling of shot bears' meat in restaurants for consumption.  Sound wild? There's a backstory: Following some deadly encounters between bears and people, last month, the government came up with a plan to shoot 350 of Slovakia's approximately 1300 bears. 27 experts from nine countries called for renouncing the measur...
The European Correspondent •

Slovak cows fall victim to a spreading virus — The European Correspondent

31 March 2025 The dangerously infectious foot and mouth disease is taking over Central European cattle. As a result, Slovakia has been in a state of emergency since last week, and as of this weekend, the border with Hungary is strictly controlled, implementing mandatory disinfection gates for vehicles above 3.5 tonnes.  In Hungary, the disease was first confirmed on 7 March, and in Slovakia, just two weeks later. According to experts, the virus likely spread across the border carried by the wind...
The European Correspondent •

Slovakia's archaeology renaissance — The European Correspondent

17 March 2025 As a child, I dreamed of becoming a historian or archaeologist, imagining far-off places rather than discoveries in Slovakia. Yet,  the findings of the last few months prove otherwise and span centuries - it was a few too many to ignore a pattern. At a known archaeological site believed to be used by a shaman, experts uncovered a rock imprint of a tusk, likely from a prehistoric forest elephant that roamed Europe until 45,000 years ago. These elephants were common in western and so...
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