(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Wednesday, September 28 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Austria is next to check border with Slovakia
Austria and the Czech Republic will reintroduce checks at the border with Slovakia from midnight tonight. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
Austria will start checks at its border with Slovakia tonight as it looks to stem a rise in illegal immigration.
People crossing into Austria will be checked as of midnight tonight, the Austrian Interior Ministry. The Czech Republic announced the same measure on Monday.
Austrian police officers will primarily check vans and larger vehicles, which pose a greater risk in the transporting of illegal migrants.
Slovak PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) does not consider the countries' decision to be right.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Interview: Economy Minister Karel Hirman speaks about energy laws, EU solutions to the energy crisis and helping firms.
FT: PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) tells The Financial Times that Slovakia's economy could collapse if it receives no money from the EU to deal with the energy crisis.
Economy: Slovakia is headed for a mild recession, the national bank has said.
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FEATURE STORY FOR Wednesday
The super tall Slovak working in the world's tallest residential skyscraper
Jozef Biľ arrived in the USA in 1990 wearing a Slovak 'kroj'. (source: Courtesy of Jozef Biľ)
Slovak builder Jozef Biľ set out on an adventure to the USA in the early nineties and he has never left the country for a long period of time. NYC has become his new home.
In the coming few months, The Slovak Spectator will bring you a few more profile interviews with Slovaks who became successful in NYC in their own way.
Note:If you understand Slovak, you can read the Slovak version here. The podcast in Slovak is available here.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The government passed a bill on Wednesday that will allow the army and the military police to destroy drones flying over military facilities. Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) claims that the army reported a "very high" number of drones near military facilities around Slovakia when the war in Ukraine began. (SITA)
Ambassador-designate of the United States of America, Gautam Rana, presented his credentials to President Zuzana Čaputová on Wednesday afternoon. Later, he laid a wreath at the Gate of Freedom Memorial near Devín Castle.
President Zuzana Čaputová ratified the NATO protocols for Finland and Sweden on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the government approved OĽaNO MP Andrej Stančík as new state secretary of the Foreign Ministry. Stančík, a 27-year-old MP who lacks professional experience in foreign affairs, was offered the job by PM Eduard Heger. Peter Cseh (OĽaNO) should replace him in parliament. SaS MP Vladimíra Marcinková described Cseh as a supporter of Viktor Orbán.
Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) spent more than an hour in the debate chamber on September 28 explaining to MPs why he sees no reason to be removed from the post. He attacked members of the SaS party, President Zuzana Čaputová, the media, NGOs, the LGBT+ community, and others. After his monologue, he left the room with other OĽaNO members. The MPs should hold a no-confidence vote against Matovič on Thursday. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
Last week's electricity consumption was more than 15 percent lower than last year. This is a bigger slump than during the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, due to the shutdowns of energy-intensive companies such as the Slovalco aluminium plant or the Duslo Šaľa chemical plant, which are reacting to high energy prices, the Financial Policy Institute said.
Slovakia will receive $205.8 million from the US Foreign Military Financing program to purchase equipment for the army and for protection against drones and hybrid threats. The country can only purchase the equipment used by the US army.
More than 600 U. S. Steel Košice workers will be laid off in the coming weeks. Each employee will receive €32,000. The firm says that this step will make its organisational structure more effective. (Korzár)
The government has extended the payment of allowances for the accommodation of refugees from Ukraine for hotels and other facilities until the end of February 2023. The maximum amount of the allowance will increase by about a tenth from October.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
