Ľudovít Ódor, who will serve as caretaker prime minister. (source: Jozef Jakubčo, SME)
Good afternoon. Here is the Friday, May 12 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Slovakia will be in the care of experts
The list of new ministers is now ready. President Zuzana Čaputová announced the names earlier today. The caretaker government will be appointed officially on Monday, May 15. The new prime minister will be central bank vice-governor Ľudovít Ódor, who will quit the job at the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) that he has held since 2018 on Sunday. The decision to appoint a caretaker administration to govern until an early general election in late September came after interm prime minister Eduard Heger (Demokrati) resigned.
Eduard Heger's cabinet, meeting for the last time. (source: Pavel Neubauer, TASR)
More from The Slovak Spectator website
Travel: The Slovak Paradise National Park has opened a new motor camping site. Caravans, motorhomes and cars with tents will be allowed to park in 26 spots, with social facilities built within the area.
Sport: The Ice Hockey World Championship begins today. Here’s when to catch the Slovak team.
Bratislava: A ball, concerts, a coffee festival and more in this week’s top 10 events for foreigners.
Weekend: Museums and galleries all over Slovakia have special events prepared. Learn more about the Night of Museums and Galleries.
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Event for the upcoming week
'American Day' is about to tour Slovakia
The US Embassy is preparing a series of events to mark the upcoming American Day during May 15-19. The embassy’s representatives will be joined by an American military band on their tour through Poprad, Rožňava, Banská Bystrica, Nitra and Trenčín. Visitors will be able to taste typical American cuisine, try out virtual reality headsets and visit a mobile planetarium.
The American Embassy will host a series of events for the upcoming American Day. (source: Vladimír Šimíček, TASR)
In other news
The Smer party is still leading opinion polls, the latest survey suggests. If snap elections had taken place in May, Smer would come first with 18 percent of the votes, followed by Hlas on 16.5 percent and Progressive Slovakia on 14.3 percent. That result would give Smer 32 seats in the 150-seat parliament. The poll was conducted between May 4 and May 10 among 1,000 respondents for debate show Na Hrane (TV JOJ).
From May 15, respirators will no longer be mandatory anywhere in Slovakia. Until now, the masks have still been required in hospitals and pharmacies. The Public Health Authority (UVZSR) has now decided to drop the last remaiming pandemic measures. (SME)
Millions of illegal cigarettes have been seized by the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration. The six million illegal cigarettes had a resale value of more than €782,000. More than €300,000 from previous criminal offences were also seized. (SITA)
The Borová Hora arboretum in Zvolen will host a "Days Without Barriers 2023" event on May 12-13 that is accessible to everybody. (source: Ján Krošlák, SME)
Weather forecast
On Saturday, rain and cloudy skies are forecast. Temperatures will be 14°C to 16°C.
For Sunday, more rain is expected. The temperature will drop to 12°C in the west, but remain at around 16°C – 19°C in the east.
On Monday, partly cloudy skies are expected for western Slovakia, with temperatures of around 18°C to 20°C. The rest of the country can expect rain, with temperatures around 15°C.
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