Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, January 16edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Vlhová ends second in Flachau
Alpine skiers Mikaela Shiffrin (l), Petra Vlhová (c) and Sara Hector(r) after the night-time slalom in Flachau, Austria, on January 16, 2024. (source: TASR)
On Tuesday evening, Slovak alpine skier and Olympic champion Petra Vlhová claimed a second place finish in the night-time slalom in Flachau, Austria.
After the first run, Vlhová dominated the race. Nevertheless, a mistake (a broken gate) that followed in her final run cost her the first place. US skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom. However, thanks to the second place, Vlhová has moved up the overall World Cup leaderboard. She is currently second with 802 points.
Another slalom and giant slalom events will take place this weekend in the Slovak resort of Jasná.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Politics: PM Robert Fico met with his Hungarian counterpart and ally, Viktor Orbán, in Budapest.
Travel: The Environment Ministry scrapped its plan for another Slovak national park.
Business: The ECB wants to see a Slovak amendment regarding cash payment removed from the constitution.
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FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
Whistleblowers’ ‘ambassador’: Without people’s support, whistleblowers can end up as martyrs
Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project visited Slovakia in December 2023. (source: Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers)
Tom Devine, a US advocate for whistleblowers, has helped thousands of whistleblowers in his long career but the Slovak government’s current attempts to strip police officer-whistleblowers of their right to protection is something that he has never seen before. The expert notes that the Fico government’s actions targeting a group of whistleblowing police officers are illegal.
In an interview with The Slovak Spectator, he also talks about cases he has worked on in the past, the importance of a whistleblower protection office, and why solidarity with whistleblowers matters.
EVENT
January will be about Nordic films
Scandi, the screening of contemporary Nordic films, will take place in Slovak cinemas from January 24 to 31. The festival marks the tenth anniversary. “The Promised Land”, a historical Danish drama and Denmark’s entry at this year’s Oscars, will kick off the event.
In other news
Health Minister Zuzana Dolinková (Hlas) approved the reimbursement of the drug Keytruda for the treatment of breast cancer from the public health insurance.
Coalition MPs overrode President Čaputová’s veto and re-approved changes to the Competence Act. The law now enables the establishment of a new Tourism and Sports Ministry, which will be managed by the Slovak National Party. The law also politicises several public institutions, including the Statistics Office.
Slovak citizen Jozef Balog, 33, was given a two-and-a-half-year sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting a charge of assisting unlawful immigration, writes Sky News. He stuffed a Vietnamese woman behind the dashboard of his car.
President Čaputová appointed five new Slovak ambassadors: Katarína Tomková will serve in Brazil, Juraj Podhorský in the Benelux, Ivan Surkoš in Japan, Marek Repovský will serve in South Korea, and Michal Pavúk in Serbia.
On Tuesday, MPs elected Eduard Burda as the chair of the State Commission for Elections and Control of the Financing of Political Parties. Burda, who serves as a dean of the law faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava, proposes that the Special Prosecutor’s Office be abolished.
The ski resort Jasná - Biela Púť, central Slovakia, on January 11, 2024. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Heavy cloud cover. During the day, it will gradually snow in many places. It will rain in the west and elsewhere in the evening. Black ice can form on roads. The highest daytime temperature will range from -3°C to 2°C.
Here’s a list of weather warnings issued for Wednesday.(SHMÚ)
JANUARY 17 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Nataša.
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