(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Tuesday, April 19 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
PM comments on donation of S-300 for CNN
Prime Minister Eduard Heger (source: TASR)
Slovak PM Eduard Heger appeared on CNN television news, commenting on the donation of the S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system to Ukraine and other forms of aid.
Democratic countries should not be intimidated by Russia, and should provide maximum assistance to Ukraine, which has been subject to a Russian invasion that has lasted more than 50 days, Heger said in the interview that aired on April 15.
In addition, he touched on plans to reduce Slovakia’s dependence on Russian energy supplies.
“We know that Russia [...] is really trying to break the unity that we have in the democratic world, and we cannot allow that,” Heger told CNN. “We should not be afraid, we should be bold and face the danger, and help Ukraine as much as we can.”
He added that it is in Slovakia's interests to help Ukraine win the war and get Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory, stressing that Ukraine is Slovakia's neighbour and that the two countries have very close contact.
Slovakia produced more emissions than before pandemic
Slovakia's greenhouse gases rose in 2021. (source: Sme)
The production of greenhouse gases was lower in Europe in 2021 than in pre-pandemic times. This does not apply to Slovakia.
according to analysts from the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the country’s central bank.
The main reason was increased production at eastern Slovak steelworks, the U.S. Steel Košice and its subsidiary Ferroenergy.
If the figures provided by the two metals producers had been omitted, the production of emissions in Slovakia would have dropped by nearly 5 percent compared to 2019.
Refugees from Ukraine
2,454 people crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border on April 18 and 163 people asked for temporary protection. The overall number of refugees since the war started is 344,088 and 68,361 have asked for temporary protection.
About 500 soldiers are helping at the Slovak-Ukrainian border every day. Some work directly at the border and border crossings, others perform supportive tasks.
Trenčín police officers have launched a criminal investigation in a property damage case. An unknown perpetrator sprayed the letter Z on a Ukrainian car. Trenčín police are searching for the perpetrator.
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Photo of the day
The manor house in the village of Tajná, near Nitra, is on the market again. A national cultural monument that served as a home for orphans for almost 60 years is auctioned off by the government.
The manor house in Tajná, which is owned by the Labour Ministry, is on sale. (source: Miriam Hojčušová/My Nitra)
Feature story for today
“These experiences are really strong – the fact that you’re transporting a family so desperate that they get into a car with strangers and allow themselves to be taken to an unknown place with all their property packed into six bags, in the hope of a better life, fills me with sadness but joy as well because we can help improve their situation, at least a little bit.”
This is how Peter Gavlák describes his volunteering experience.
In other news
704 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 3,331 PCR tests performed on Monday. The number of people in hospitals is 1,276 people. 14 more deaths were reported on Monday. The vaccination rate is at 51.29 percent, 2,820,896 people having received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
About 50 soldiers from Qatar could train in Slovakia in May. These military exercises for the first half-year should be completed with the specialised training of 11 members of the Military Police before deployment to shared operations.
Marian Kotleba lost his mandate and the caucus of his People’s Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) has ceased to exist, as they have less than eight members, which is the limit for creating a caucus. The MPs will remain in parliament as non-partisan.
Vice-president of the European Parliament, Michal Šimečka, will be the only candidate to run for the chair of the extra-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia. Incumbent chair Irena Bihariová applied for deputy chair of the party. The deadline for candidates to apply has already passed, the party congress scheduled to May 7.
Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina arrested a former functionary of the National Criminal Agency, Ján Kaľavský.The website zregionu.sk was the first to break the news. Kaľavský had been on the run for half a year. The Justice Ministry is preparing an extradition request and has asked the Specialised Criminal Court for the original of the international arrest warrant with a translation.
Tatry Mountain Resorts (TMR) broadened its portfolio and became an owner and operator of the Bešeňová water park, when it bought a 100-percent share from the company Eurocom Investment. The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
The session of the Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights, which should have been held in connection with the murder of civilians in Ukraine, did not take place because the invited Russian Ambassador in Slovakia failed to show up. “Igor Bratchikov delivered a statement several pages long to the committee, but refused to participate at the meeting and decided not to answer additional questions from MPs,” said committee vice-chair Peter Pollák Jr.
Do not miss on Spectator.sk today
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