Good evening. Here is theWednesday, September 27 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Slovakia summons Hungarian ambassador
Hungarian MFA Péter Szijjártó shakes hands with Aliancia - Szövetség leader Krisztián Forró. (source: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó)
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó urged Hungarian people in southeastern Slovakia on Tuesday and in southwestern Slovakia on Wednesday to vote for a "united Hungarian party".
During his tour in the south of Slovakia, he met with Aliancia - Szövetség leader Krisztián Forró. Aliancia is a Hungarian minority party.
In response, on September 27, 2023, the Slovak Foreign Ministry summoned the Hungarian ambassador to Slovakia, Csaba Balogh. Slovakia asked the Hungarian ambassador to explain Slovakia's reservations against interference in the election campaign in Slovakia by supporting specific political entities to the Hungarian minister.
The Slovak ministry said that it considers such actions to be outside the standards of diplomatic communication.
Related: In August, Szijjártó criticised the arrest of former police chief Tibor Gašpar, who is now running in the election on the slate of the Smer party. He said that Gašpar was a victim of the "liberal mainstream".
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Election: Readbrief profiles of the political parties that might get into parliament.
Politics: OĽaNO leader Igor Matovič accused his former partner SaS leader Richard Sulík of lobbying for a financial group in 2020. His strategy appears to be working.
Opinion: Rebooting with the Bridge.
Polls: Here's what the last polls tell us about the upcoming election.
Business: The business environment for the Slovak economy and the growth of living standards have taken up little space in most political parties' manifestos.
Culture: Comic legends call on Slovaks to vote.
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FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY
Slovak books bring joy to children across America
Ivana Brezinská in her library at her home in the USA. (source: Courtesy of I. B.)
When Ivana Brezinská packed her suitcases before she and her family moved to America nine years ago, she made sure to take children's books – 50 of them in a single suitcase, in fact. She did not want her children, Nina and Michael, to forget Slovak.
Once they had grown up, Brezinská decided to share the books with other families in the USA.
EVENT FOR THURSDAY
Folk dance classes
On Thursday, V Klub on the SNP Square in Bratislava will host the Tanečný Dom (Dance House) event during which people can learn to dance traditional Goral, Ruthenian and Vojvodina Slovak dances. Learn more.
Hour: 20:00
Admission: €9. Tickets can be purchased in the club.
In other news
President Zuzana Čaputová called on people to participate in Saturday's early parliamentary election. "For me personally, this election is about the courage not to succumb to the fear that many try to induce in us. It is about our self-confidence. That we are able to believe in democracy and do not need to back down to autocracy. That we are able to see the strength of a politician in their arguments and abilities, and not in their shouting at press conferences and on social media. And they will also be about where we want to belong as a country - whether on the edge of the communities we are a part of, or among respected partners," said the president.
Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday night that Smer is a natural partner for him. "In terms of values and ideology, we have a more intensive penetration with Smer than with the PS," he said. Pellegrini has not ruled out cooperation with Smer. He refuses to sit in a government with Smer leader Robert Fico.
More than 54,000 voters have so far voted by mail from abroad. Altogether, almost 73,000 citizens applied for mail. About 26 percent of those registered have not voted yet.
Marian Kotleba (ĽSNS), MP Miroslav Suja and MP Milan Mazurek (Republika) spread the most hate on Facebook, a new analysis by the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights shows.
In the Global Innovation Index, published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Slovakia finished in 45th place out of 132 assessed economies, up by one place. However, Slovakia achieves worse results than the European regional average in all studied areas of the innovation index, the Office of Industrial Property (ÚPV) said on Wednesday.
Baroque altar in the interior of the wooden Gothic Church of All Saints in Tvrdošín, northern Slovakia, on Saturday, September 2, 2023. The wooden Gothic church has been included in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List since 2008. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: You can expect clear skies, light wind and high temperatures. The highest daytime temperature will rise to 28°C. (SHMÚ)
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