Good evening. Here is theWednesday, October 4 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Police raid Speaker of Parliament's companies
Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollár (Sme Rodina). (source: TASR)
Early on Wednesday morning, the National Crime Agency (NAKA) launched an operation codenamed Targets investigating extensive economic crime carried out between 2011 and 2021. Police officers conducted raids at 17 locations in Slovakia.
One of them took place in a building located at Leškova 5 Street in Bratislava at which several companies owned by Speaker of Parliament and Sme Rodina chief Boris Kollár have their headquarters, including the popular radio station Fun Rádio. The party itself has headquarters at the same address.
Another raid took place at the SLOVCLEAN company, which is linked to former Sme Rodina MP Martin Borguľa. The MP has previously been charged with corruption but the case was later dropped on the orders of General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka.
Kollár called the raid a "ridiculous police circus" and said police came for four invoices they had received three months ago. He also claimed the raid was a cover-up of a more serious problem - reintroduced border checks.
Meanwhile, Kollár announced that he would no longer answer the questions of the dailies Sme and Denník N and the news website Aktuality.sk, calling them "PR agencies". He labelled journalists from these media outlets as "propagandists".
The September 30 election were a debacle for the Sme Rodina party, which got just 2.2 percent of all votes. In recent months, Kollár's past scandals regarding his behaviour towards women have caught up to him. Not very loyal voters are also seen as the reason behind the party's failure.
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FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY
When an English word has no Slovak equivalent
Reading in English can prove a challenge. (source: SME)
The English language has roughly 900,000 words, while Slovak has roughly 700,000, according to Juraj Dolník, professor at Comenius University's Slovak language department.
As English has more words than Slovak, there are English words that have no equivalent. The latest edition of the Slovak Matters column deals with some of these.
EVENT FOR THE WEEKEND
Come to Stupava and enjoy Cabbage Days
Dni Zelá (Cabbage Days) in the town of Stupava near Bratislava. (source: TASR)
The town of Stupava near Bratislava regularly hosts Dni Zelá (Days of Cabbage) during the first weekend of October, and this year is no exception. Between October 6-8, visitors to the western Slovak town will be able to learn more about the tradition of growing cabbage and cooking cabbage soup. For more information, click here (in Slovak).
IN OTHER NEWS
Any crossing of tourist border points e.g. mountain crossings in the Tatra Mountains, will be considered illegal border crossings, the Polish Border Guard has said. On Tuesday, Poland was one of several countries that introduced border checks with Slovakia.
Retail revenues in Slovakia were down 2.1 percent year-on-year in August, dropping for the seventh month in a row, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety MEPs backed the candidacy of Slovak European Commission Vice-president Maroš Šefcovič, who should oversee the implementation of the European Green Deal. (TASR)
On Wednesday, the Košice-based Children’s University Hospital (DFN) reported an 'alarming situation' in regards to Hepatitis A with all beds in its infectious disease department occupied. Due to increased incidence of the virus, the Louis Pasteur University Hospital (UNLP) in Košice has banned visits until further notice. Hygienists in the Prešov district, eastern Slovakia, reported more than 130 cases of the disease and four active outbreaks. Of 90 beds in the local hospital's infectious disease department, 85 are occupied. (TASR)
In response to growing threats to media freedom and the industry’s viability, MEPs adopted a position on a law to strengthen the transparency and independence of EU media. EP wants to oblige member states to ensure media plurality and protect media independence from governmental, political, economic or private interference, ban all forms of interference in editorial decisions and prevent external pressure being exerted on journalists. (EP News)
Several border crossings between Slovakia and Poland have been closed for transport due to illegal migration. Locals say they were not ready for it. Pictured is the Chochołów - Suchá Hora crossing. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY
Overnight, there will be ground frost in some parts of valleys of north-central and north Slovakia. The day will be mostly sunny, occasionally cloudy. Temperatures between 17 °C and 22 °C. (SHMÚ)
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