25 euro - 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Slovak Republic

The Velvet Revolution of November 1989 ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia and opened the way to socio-economic reforms. It also produced a federal constitutional arrangement which, owing to political differences between the leaderships of its Czech and Slovak parts, resulted in an agreement to partition the country into two separate republics. The establishment of an independent Slovak Republic on 1 January 1993 marked the culmination of efforts to establish a modern Slovak nation and the fulfilment of national emancipation. The new republic joined the community of independent democratic states and affirmed its intention to develop cooperation with them. In the year it was established, the Slovak Republic joined the United Nations and the Council of Europe and it signed a European Association Agreement with the European Communities. Since then, the country has joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2000), the European Union (2004) and the euro area (2009). The Slovak Republic is currently one of Europe's most rapidly developing countries.