(source: SITA)
This is your overview of news from Slovakia on Friday, July 3. For interesting weekend read tips, also check out our Spectacular Slovakia roundup of the last week. If you like The Slovak Spectator and want to support our work, buy our online subscription. Thank you for being our readers.
NAKA raided Bonul and charged Bödör
The police raided the Nitra security firm Bonul on Friday and brought charges against five people, including an influential businessman.
The Aktuality.sk website reported that Norbert Bödör, an alleged Smer sponsor who has had lively contact with mobster Marian Kočner according to the Threema messages found on the phone of the latter during the investigation of the Ján Kuciak murder, is among those charged. His attorney did not comment for the media.
The raid is not linked to the Kuciak case or to Threema, but to another high-profile corruption affair the police are currently investigating, the Cattle Breeder case.
The wheel of Bratislava
Bratislava has a new attraction - a giant wheel that has sprung up on the Vajanského nábrežie embankment in the historical centre.
The Staré Mesto (Old Town) district allowed the wheel to be placed on the Danube bank near the Slovak National Gallery and the Slovak National Museum as a temporary support for local tourism during the coronavirus crisis. The wheel will only remain on the site until the end of September.
The idea came from an online survey where most of those who voted, supported the project. Yet, after the wheel was placed on its destined site, it has left public opinion much divided, particularly on social networks. The monument protection authorities dislike the wheel and the way it was placed on the bank, but they were not involved in the decision-making process, since the wheel is just a temporary attraction.
In other news:
Slovakia has 20 new coronavirus positive cases as of Thursday. See the full stats here.
As of July 4, people with chronic respiratory diseases are exempted from wearing masks in public places. Otherwise, the rules for mask wearing remain in place, the Public Health Office informed. More about the new measures announced yesterday.
The Austrian police arrested Slovak citizen Viliam Mišenka on their territory on Thursday, based on a European arrest warrant. Mišenka has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for a deadly explosion in Topoľčany. He will now be extradited to Slovakia where he will start serving his prison sentence.
Transport Minister Andrej Doležal plans to re-store the Slovak Tourist Board (SACR) which had been scrapped in the past. The former public-service broadcaster RTVS director and failed Bratislava mayor candidate Václav Mika will be in charge of the agency as it relaunches.
"Poland was an example for us in fighting against communism. Today, Poland is an example for eastern and central Europe in fighting against corruption," said PM Igor Matovič during his first official visit to Poland on Friday, July 3. He met with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki. (TASR)
Mateusz Morawiecki welcomes Igor Matovič in Warsaw. (source: TASR)
Weekend read tips from Spectator.sk:
