Slovakia

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. A country currently run by Japanese and Korean Corporations and crime organizations.

Overview
Slovakia suffered a great deal from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Back in the day, Slovakia's role was to supply the workers for heavy industry. The intellectual elite, the administrators and most higher educated people always came from the Czech side. This meant that after the split, Slovakia had to rebuild its administration from nothing. The post Iran Curtain privatization was hampered by politics, while investors saw deals available from its western neighbors. The aging plants and hordes of unlearned, unemployed workers didn't help. Economic breakdown was inevitable.

In 1998, when Slovakia teetered on bankruptcy, a white knight appeared. Mitsubishi Motors, a subsidiary of the giant Mitsubishi group, bought up several plants and began producing cars for the East-European market Mitsubishi saw two advantages in Slovakia: the cheap workforce and the low EC influence. Slovakia had been overlooked by the Easies because the economy was abysmal and its political importance was nothing at all. Therefore, Mitsubishi could operate without EC trade interventions.

The intervention of Mitsubishi was heralded as an economic rebirth. Forgotten by the EC, and on the downslide to catastrophe, the Slovakians embraced the Far East Japanese culture became a big fad; Japanese tourists were treated like guests of state, and delegations from Mitsubishi regularly met the president.

As word spread, other investors followed Mitsubishi's example. Their tactics seemed especially successful after Japan was kicked out of the EC Market. The Japanese Zaibatsus produced their wares in Europe, circumventing maximum import limits and other trade restrictions. In the year 2020, Slovakia is a secure bridgehead for Japanese and Korean corporations.

Government
Something's rotten in Slovakia. There are three things worrying President Cemak at the moment: the power of the Zaibatsus, the growing pressure of the EC, and the unemployed youth.

The first political issue is that the various Zaibatsus influence/own many of the local governments and their lobbyists affect state decisions. On the other hand, people are happy with them; they bring in money, work and technology. Should they withdraw from Slovakia, the country would instantly return to the Middle Ages. In short the conclusion drawn, is that the Zaibatsus are free to do as they please and have no desire to give that up.

This has the Easies upset. It was hard enough to kick Japan out of-now they are building a New Japan in Europe's backyard. But they can't do much about it. When they became aware of the growing Far Eastern subversion, it was already too late; Slovakia doesn't depend on the EC for trade anymore. Maybe Slovakia does some 30% of its trade with members of the EC, but since the Megacorps do 90% of those deals, it's their problem.

So the Easies started to flood the countries news with propaganda. Radio and TV stations from Austria, the CR and Poland, broadcast a 24 hr-a-day hype, concentrating on showing how free and easy people live inside the EC-while others slave under Zaibatsu occupation. The notion is not to degrade the Slovakians, but to make people conscious of who really runs the show at home. The second line of programming features important characters from history fighting for their home and culture. As an example, they look to the colonization of South America, showing that all indigenous people eventually lost their culture to the invaders. Though they just wanted to make the Slovakians fear for their "cultural soul," the Easies unknowingly gave the pro-NCE parties an important tool.

The Zaibatsus didn't need long to work out a counter-pm- gram. Using a variation of the "Cultural invader" theme, they began showing the EC as a monstrous Dragon intent on wallowing whole states. The Zaibatsus, on the other hand, are depicted as monokatana-wielding Dragons, fighting for Honor and Helping the people in need of such. The situation has escalated into a full blown media propaganda war and slander; each side scoring hits, but neither making real advances. The only party profiting from the media war are the pro-NCE Leagues of countries adjacent to Slovakia. With each new program, they gain new followers.

The third factor in local politics is the unemployed youth. They are the losers, the ones who failed the corporate job tests- and those who didn't care to be wage slaves 'til the end of their lives. They form nomad groups operating in the less settled mountain areas. Feared by Zaibatsus for attacking their trans- ports, and adored by the populace for their recklessness, many secretly support these outlaws.

As a matter of course, the corps hunt them mercilessly. Undercover EC supported media teams recently unearthed frightening facts about 'corporate justice: They found mas graves filled with over a hundred nomads. Survivors living under cover in Poland, tell of midnight raids by AV-Gunships and ACPA soldiers. The story hit like a nuke. For the first time, people demonstrated against their employers. The corps in turn, suppressed the story as best they could, but it had already been transmitted to independent stations throughout eastern Europe. As more and more people heard of the massacre, support for the Slovakian nomads increased tenfold. In addition, hundreds of would-be anarchists flocked to them, bringing tech and guns.

Economy
The Japanese and Korean Zaibatsus do most of the transactions. But look at my country first before judging us fools. Slovakia has the natural resources of a donut shop, and that's it. Excepting mafia people, there are only a handful, and they invest in safer deals than our pseudo-economy.The Zaibatsus use that man-power and give the people of Slovakia high-tech in return. The cyberdecks were bought legally in some corporate shop. The Net is one of the better in the East- Bloc, and even though they don't use top equipment there aren't any Icemen in the area, all thanks to Zaibatsu support.

The biggest slovakian employers are still the state arms manufacturers. At least the people and government didn't sell the military to Arasaka like Portugal. Slovakian negotiators still use Operation Big Stick as a favorite bargaining chip. Mafia isn't big business in Slovakia. Most things needed are supplied by the Zais, that includes safe drugs. That being said they still are able to brew good beer, but many people seem to think Japanese-style is more relaxing and better for their careers. The Russian Mob earns their money in only a few of their normal operations: prostitution, gambling and smuggling.

In the early 2010s, there is more trouble with the Yakuza. With any collection of Japanese comes a number of yakuza members for doing black business. The yakuza have brothels employing only Japanese-girls. you can see the sarimen driving up to these houses out of town when the work is done.They do great business, even with Slovaks. Slovakia has 43 Japantowns and 28 Koreatowns in the country, for the size it's a lot of Japanese and Korean influence to go around.

Notable Corporations
Aside from the giant corporate conglomerate Mitsubishi there are eight major corporations working in Slovakia; To mention just a few of the corporations that reside:

Petrochem
Petrochem owns much of the arable countryside, using it to produce CHOOH2.

Arasaka
Arasaka does major bodyguard business. The Slovakian government has steadfastly refused to make Rent-An-Army or Rent-A-Police deals, officially for monetary reasons. Still, there are some Arasaka subsidiaries producing articles for the European market.

Sungan Industries
Sungan Industries has a multitude of plants producing electronics. They are currently expanding their cyberware branches, which might increase the quality of NCE cyberware.

Network News 54
NN54 uses this area as the basis for most of their NCE programs. They keep out of the media war, though it produces some good news.

Hyundai
Hyundai the massive Korean zaibatsu is here to produce commercial vehicles of all kinds in their Slovakian plants. The neccessary parts come mainly from Korea, making them very wary of transport raids.

Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi is a large Corporation and one of Japan's largest trading companies. Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 79,000 people and has seven business segments, including finance, banking energy, machinery, chemicals, and food. Its safe to say that the corporation runs Slovakia, and has one of its largest sub divisions, Mitsubishi Motors, headquarters in the city of Bratislava.

Mitsubishi has its own private security division to protect all their assets, but also employs Arasaka troops to safe guard their plants around the area.

Bratislava
Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is set along the Danube River by the border with Austria and Hungary. It's also the city with the most corporate influence, with large Japanese and Korean Zaibatsus towers filling the night sky. Also home to the largest Japantown and Koreatown in the country. It’s surrounded by vineyards and the Little Carpathian mountains, crisscrossed with forested hiking and cycling trails. Arasaka patrols the streets day and night. Petrochem facilities plague the factory district of the city.

Kosice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia, close to the Hungarian border. Its origins go back to the medieval period, and the central Lower Gate archaeological complex preserves fortifications from the 13th century. Being the second largest city, naturally the Zaibatsus also have a huge hold over it. You'll also find the heart of the Yakuza black market deals here.

Reference
RAMOS, J. Eurosource Plus. 1st ed. Berkeley CA: R. Talsorian Games, 1995