Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, June 20edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
President Čaputová will not run for office in 2024
President Zuzana Čaputová announces that she will not run for office again on June 20, 2023 at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava. (source: TASR - Pavol Zachar)
President Zuzana Čaputová announced on Tuesday that she would not run for president again in the next year's presidential election.
"I am sorry if I disappoint those who have expected my candidacy again," she said.
The president added that she greatly appreciated the trust people had in her. However, not letting them down means doing this work with full commitment and strength, she noted.
"Otherwise, it could happen that the presidency will serve me and not me the presidency and the country," the president said.
Čaputová became Slovakia's fifth president, and the country's first female president, in 2019. In the past four years, she had to deal with four different governments, verbal attacks and several crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Quote: "The fate of Slovakia does not depend on one person. " (Z. Č., June 20, 2023)
INTERVIEW
How president's decision not to run again was born
President Zuzana Čaputová and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meet in Bratislava on June 6, 2023. (source: TASR)
"I consider it very important to be honest with myself and with people. I based my campaign and the entire performance of my mandate on that. If I didn't stick to that honesty, I would be going against what I built my relationship with the public on," President Zuzana Čaputová says in an interview with the Sme daily.
In the interview, she explains why she does not want to run for president for the second time.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Archaeology: Several finds were discovered during the archaeological research in the Barát Kút area near Rimavská Sobota.
Culture: If you do not know the ingredients for a longer life, this 104-year-old Slovak woman will give you a piece of advice.
Opinion: The children of Ukraine need to find solace, they need to be able to rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential to get a glimpse of normality back in their lives, but true normality will not come until war still rages in Ukraine, writes UNICEF's Michaela Bauer.
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EVENT FOR SATURDAY
A picnic in Modra
Modra, a wine-making town near Bratislava, will host another edition of its period picnic on June 24. Put on some vintage clothes, take a picnic basket, deckchairs, blankets and come to the Otčenáška meadow in the Modra-Harmónia resort.
Start: 13:00
Venue: Otčenáška, Modra-Harmónia
In other news
The public broadcaster RTVS will receive a state contribution of 0.17 percent of GDP following a bill adopted by MPs on Tuesday. The new financing model is related to the abolition of licence fees, which will be abolished from July.
Slovak society needs a fundamental change, according to 69 percent of respondents to the "How are you, Slovakia?" survey. At the same time, 63 percent of respondents call for reforms and investments. In particular, the country should modernise health care (68 percent), education (42 percent) and the use of renewable resources (31 percent). (TASR)
A register of hiking trails will not be established in Slovakia after MPs did not approve a bill on hiking trails on Tuesday. The bill was supposed to regulate hiking trails, their markings, as well as offences.
An old Hungarian burial ground from the 10th century on the territory of the future Valaliky Strategic Park, where archaeologists discovered more than 260 graves on June 20, 2023 in Valaliky, near Košice. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Some clouds. Showers and storms in some places. Very hot and sultry weather! The highest daytime temperature will rise to 34°C. Yellow storm and heat warnings will be in place across Slovakia from Wednesday afternoon. (SHMÚ)
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