(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Monday, October 17 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Cohabiting couples, including same-sex couples, may gain new rights
SaS MP Vladimíra Marcinková and her colleague Ondrej Dostál speak about their 'cohabitation arrangement' bill at a press briefing on October 17, 2022. (source: TASR - Vladimíra Marcinková)
Lawmakers will meet in the debating chamber again tomorrow after a week off to close the September session and open the October session.
One of the bills in the first reading that parliament will deal with during the October session concerns a set of rights for cohabiting couples, which could also help same-sex couples.
"The aim of the bill is to anchor the institution of cohabitation in Slovak legislation. The proposal is designed to be gender neutral," a group of SaS MPs writes in their proposal. They submitted it to parliament in late August.
The new rights concern co-ownership, inheritance, access to health documentation, as well as the right to a widow's and widower's pension and the right to nursing allowance.
Following the murder of two LGBT+ people last week in Bratislava, some parties have said that they would support the SaS bill. The issue of registered partnerships remains off the table.
Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, the police said that they had reclassified the incident from a murder to an act of terrorism. The police hinted at this last Friday.
Analysis: The LGBT+ community in Slovakia has received a lot of hate instead of equal rights to date. Hate has also been nurtured by politicians.
Opinion: Politicians should bin the status quo and help LGBT+ people feel safe and equal, writes The Slovak Spectator's editor-in-chief, Michaela Terenzani.
Coming-out: TV presenter Rastislav Iliev came out on live TV last Sunday. On the same day, OĽaNO chair Igor Matovič is believed to have mocked the presenter. He posted on Facebook: "I'm hetero. I'm a man and I feel like a man." On Sunday, the second march to honour the victims of last Wednesday's shooting also took place in Bratislava.
At last Sunday's protest, people honoured two LGBT+ victims of last week's shooting in Bratislava and said no to fascism. (source: Braňo Bibel)
Attack: Slovan Bratislava football fans assaulted two people wearing rainbow ribbons on a night train from Bratislava to Trnava the past weekend. One of the fans allegedly shouted that he would again shoot people dead in Tepláreň, a Bratislava gay bar, the JOJ television channel reported. Last week, two LGBT+ people were shot dead outside the bar.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Grant: The city of Košice has received a Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to improve street safety through art and design.
Poll: Hlas chair Peter Pellegrini is the most trusted politician in Slovakia. Trust increased in his rival, Smer chair Robert Fico, the latest poll shows.
Real estate:Demand for new flats in Bratislava has decreased, so has their prices.
FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY
Bratislava opens its first reuse centre
Some 800 people visited the Kolo reuse centre during the first day. (source: Courtesy of OLO)
Six days a week, visitors can obtain second-hand, still functional, items for symbolic sums or bring things they no longer need, yet fully functional and usable.
"Bratislava has become a city offering sustainable alternatives to standard shopping, giving used items another chance," said Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo during the centre's opening.
Such centres are already operating in Prague, Brno and Vienna. The latter served as a model for Kolo.
Bratislava go-to events for this week
Drama Queer, an LGBT+ theatre festival, starts on October 18 and runs until October 28.
The Be2Can film festival also kicks off on October 18.
You can find more events in Top 10 events in Bratislava.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka denies spreading Russian propaganda. He considers such accusations to be purely political and biased. Last month Žilinka said he would look into the alleged damage to a war cemetery in eastern Slovakia, following a claim made by the Russian embassy.
The conspiracy index in Slovakia is extremely high compared to the rest of the world, shows a survey of the University of St. Cyril and Methodius (UCM) in Trnava. It was conducted on a sample of 1,514 respondents.
People can apply from Saturday for a subsidy to renovate older family homes. Here's how.
People pick cabbages in Brodno, northern Slovakia, on October 14, 2022. (source: TASR - Erika Ďurčová)
After the Šaľa-based chemical company Duslo disclosed its plan to build a wind farm last week, Duslo is adding another project, a photovoltaic power plant.
Slovakia will participate in the EU training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, Foreign Affairs Minister Rastislav Káčer said.
The Globsec think-tank has opened an office in Kyiv, the Bratislava-based organisation announced on Monday.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
