Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, July 26 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
More generous meal vouchers for the third time this year
Stock image. (source: SITA)
On June 1, the minimum value of a meal voucher for employees increased by almost 40 percent to €5.48. Now, the Labour Ministry wants to increase the value of the vouchers for the third time this year, rising to €5.85.
The changes will also cover workers on business trips across Slovakia. If their trip lasts from five to 12 hours, employers will reimburse them for their meal expenses to the sum of €7.80, up by €0.50, to €11.60 if the trip lasts from 12 to 18 hours, an increase of €0.70, and €17.40, up €1, for trips over 18 hours.
When the change takes place will depend on how long it takes to get the proposal through parliament, the ministry said.
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FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY
How voting evolved in Slovakia
The archive photo caption reads: Electoral posters catch the eye of young mothers in the town of Handlová, they too will vote for peace and a happy life for their children on Sunday, June 12 1960. (source: TASR)
For centuries, many people in Slovakia had almost no rights, their future decided by a handful of oligarchs. It was only under democracy that they got universal voting rights.
Today, half the population of Slovakia trusts demagogues and expects elections to be manipulated. Surveys also show that half of the electorate has no problem with being ruled by a firm hand.
Read how people have viewed elections in Slovakia from the middle of the 19th century to the end of communism.
EVENT FOR THE WEEKEND
The crown is back in the city
Coronation Days. (source: TASR)
From Friday to Sunday, Bratislava will return in time, once again becoming Pressburg, the coronation city of the Kingdom of Hungary.
A coronation procession will go through the streets of the city, with participants in period costumes, while themed city tours will also be on offer. For more information including a programme click here (in English).
In other news
On Tuesday, Slovak firefighters on the Greek island of Rhodes managed to protect an electricity transformer station near the village of Gennadi from an approaching fire. The team helping to fight the vast wildfires also helped secure water supplies near the village of Vati and constructed a water pumping station.
A total of 12,265 people died in Slovakia in the second quarter of 2023, the Statistics Office reports, adding that mortality fell 11 percent year-on-year. Circulatory system diseases remained the most frequent causes of death.
Bratislava City Police have intensified checks on people stopping on cycle paths, especially in problematic streets such as Dunajská, Krížna, Mlynské Nivy and Banskobystrická, city authorities have said. Parking a car on a cycle path carries a fine of up to €50.
PM Ľudovít Ódor criticised Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán over a statement the latter made last weekend about Slovakia. "Any questioning of Slovakia's territorial integrity is unacceptable. It helps neither bilateral relations, nor the ethnic-Hungarian minority living in Slovakia," Ódor said on Wednesday.
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY:
Mostly cloudy and occasional showers. Daily temperatures between 18 °C and 25 °C. A Level 1 wind warning is in place for districts around the High and Low Tatras and Košice, Trebišov a Michalovce. (SHMÚ)
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