News digest: PM in Brussels on his own, masks also required outdoors

Read your overview of news from Slovakia on October 15, 2020.

Restaurants are only allowed to serve guests on outdoor terraces or offer takeaway. Restaurants are only allowed to serve guests on outdoor terraces or offer takeaway. (Source: TASR)

This is your overview of news from Slovakia on Thursday, October 15, 2020. If you enjoy this free-of-charge service and want to support us, become a subscriber and get access to more detailed news and interesting feature stories from Slovakia.

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Pellegrini overtakes Matovič

If the election had taken place at the beginning of October, the highest support would go to the new party of former PM Peter Pellegrini, Hlas.

It would receive as much as 18.8 percent of the vote, according to a poll carried out by the AKO polling agency on 1,000 respondents between October 1 and 9 for the Hospodárske Noviny daily.

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Related article Ruling OĽaNO is not the most popular anymore. Former PM’s party takes the lead Read more 

PM goes to Brussels without sherpa

Slovakia will oppose a no deal Brexit, question CO2 emission reduction goals and support linking EU funds with the rule of law at the summit that starts in Brussels today.

This is the mandate handed down by the European affairs committee of the parliament to PM Igor Matovič, who flies to Brussels for the first time without the official sherpa of the Slovak delegation, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Martin Klus.

"I personally haven't got the slightest reason to be overly welcoming towards the SaS and its representatives unless they examine their consciences and stand before the cameras and call on people to observe all covid measures," the Sme daily quoted Matovič, who has been in conflict with SaS leader Sulík after the latter questioned the closure of restaurants and fitness centres

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Best scientists awarded

The second year of the ESET Science Award knows its laureates. The main prize for the outstanding individual contributor to Slovak science was bestowed on Fedor Šimkovic. The nuclear physicist has dedicated his career to researching the neutrino, the key to understanding the universe, he says.

Picture of the day

As of Thursday morning, face masks are obligatory in Slovakia on the streets. Restaurants are not allowed to serve people indoors and other strict measures took effect.

Feature story for today

If you are wondering if a dress really belongs in the depository, designers have a clear answer for you: yes, it does.

“People need to be reminded that fashion is not just a product, a commodity, but it can also be a valuable work of art,” says designer Martin Hrča.

The Slovak National Gallery has put on a display of ten dresses created by Slovak fashion designers for the Tatra Bank Foundation over a period of ten years.

Product vs. art: Fashion walks back into the national gallery Read more 

In other news

  • Public health offices reported a record 1,920 new positive tests as of Thursday morning, out of 12,502 samplings. "Slovakia is 14 days behind Czechia," PM Igor Matovič wrote on Facebook. The Czech Republic has reported over 9,000 new cases both today and yesterday.
  • The recently adopted amendment to the legislation on public health that President Zuzana Čaputová signed into law yesterday, also scraps the right to claim compensation for damages and lost profit due to the pandemic. Although Čaputová signed the amendment as a whole, she is ready to challenge the latter change in the Constitutional Court.
  • The president also signed the amendment to the Penal Code, introducing stricter punishments for cruelty to animals and neglect of care of an animal. Depending on the gravity of the deed, the punishment could be up to five years in prison. (Office of the President)
  • Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP) and Dôvera health insurers will not require their clients to bring referral slips from their general practitioner when visiting a specialist. This decision is due to the pandemic.
  • The analysis of wastewater has confirmed the spread of coronavirus among the population, the Bratislavská Vodárenská Spoločnosť water management company reported. They have identified inactive parts of the virus in the wastewater in Vrakuňa and Petržalka. (TASR)
  • Preschool will be compulsory as of next year, for all children who reach five years of age by August 31, 2021. (Education Ministry)
  • The Ružomberok hospital opened its new COVID pavilion, but it has not been put into use yet because the oxygen system has not been installed there. (Denník N)

Also on Spectator.sk:

Constitutional Court: The national emergency is constitutional Read more 


If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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