Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, October 23 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Smer "loans" its MP to save coalition partner
Smer MP Dušan Muňko (left) and Smer chair and PM Robert Fico. (source: TASR)
In order to save SNS chair Andrej Danko's caucus, his coalition partner and PM Robert Fico (Smer) resorted to a move never before seen in the history of the Slovak parliament, reports Sme daily.
Dušan Muňko, one of Smer's 42 MPs, is joining the SNS caucus. The latter party lost its originally 10-strong caucus after three of its MPs announced departure on Tuesday, leaving it one short of the required eight MPs, according to the rules of procedure. The loss would have stripped the party of caucus-related privileges.
"He is one of the most experienced MPs not only in our causus, but in the entire history of the Slovak parliament," Smer caucus chair Ján Richter said of 80-year old Muňko and went on to describe the latter's joining SNS causus as "on loan" in sports terminology.
Muňko is a founding member of the party. Not long ago he sold a luxury apartment in the Sokolská Residence in Bratislava's Staré Mesto borough to PM Fico who currently lives in it.
"Everything has been said, nothing is happening. I still belong to Smer, I'm just strengthening the SNS caucus so that the coalition is preserved and we can go on," Muňko briefly said.
According to Richter, this move is a formal-legal solution and Muňko will still be called for meetings of the Smer caucus. However, he will still fulfil certain tasks that come with being part of the SNS caucus.
In light of the current events, opposition KDH and Progressive Slovakia chairs called the governing coalition a 'hodgepodge', a term used in the past by PM Fico to refer to governments he was opposing.
"Rudolf Huliak and two other MPs' exit reveals the state this coalition is in. A year after the election, relations in the coalition are undoubtedly at the freezing point. They're no longer even trying to hide some things and having the SNS caucus reinforced by Dušan Muňko is a fraud perpetrated on voters," says KDH chair Milan Majerský.
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FEATURE STORY
Honouring family legacy
Dusan Stevlik (source: Courtesy of D. S.)
Dusan Stevlik is a native of Bratislava but grew up in Germany after his parents fled communism. Inspired by his grandfather Jozsef’s career as a smuggler and slivovica salesman, he began selling Jozsef Stevlik Kosher Slivovitz, a plum brandy common in central and eastern Europe. The drink has won several silver medals at drinks competitions in London and New York.
EVENT FOR THE COMING WEEKS
Mozart returns to Bratislava
St. Martin Cathedral in Bratislava. (source: TASR - Dano Veselský)
On Friday, the international Bratislava Mozart Festival is going to start. As always on this occasion, the St. Martin Cathedral will play host to the opening concert of Mozart's Requiem d minor K. 626 piece. The event will continue in the next few weeks with additional concerts. Click here to learn more about the programme and grab your tickets, but make it quick, they are few left.
IN OTHER NEWS
From January 2025, the minimum wage should significantly rise to €816 per month compared to €750 now. The increase of €66 year-on-year is the largest in the history of Slovakia, with a faster grow expected in the coming years. In addition, the way the minimum wage is calculated will also change. (SME)
PM Robert Fico (Smer) lends full support to Peter Kotlár, a known anti-vaxxer tasked by the government with investigating the alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic by the previous OĽaNO-led governments. According to the PM, the government will deliberate on the report he recently submitted, one that was compiled in collaboration with disinformation agents and which recommends halting the use of mRNA vaccines in Slovakia. Recently, the Interior Ministry announced that a police team will be investigating the management, but will not include Kotlár. When former health minister Zuzana Dolinková resigned, one of the reasons she cited was dealing with Kotlár. (TASR)
Last year, companies in Slovakia paid a total of €3.6 billion in income tax to the state, a year-on-year decrease of more than €250 million or 6.5 percent. The reason is the lower tax paid by the largest tax payer, the Slovnaft refinery, which paid €137 million in 2023 compared to €627 million a year prior, a significant part of which was a temporary solidarity contribution. The Žilina-based car manufacturer Kia Slovakia came second, with with its tax almost doubling from €66 million in 2022 to almost €135 million in 2023. With €89 million paid to the state, the VÚB bank placed third. (FinStat)
A fisherman sorting carp from a pond near the village of Iňačovce, Košice Region. Catching of fish intended for the Christmas market continues these days. After several weeks of monitoring, the live carp are transferred to chains. (source: TASR)
The popular Polish discount store chain Biedronka is negotiating with Slovak retail chain COOP Dunajská Streda to take over some of its stores. Biedronka is also looking for employees to its stores in the villages of Miloslavov, Dunajská Lužná and Kvetoslavov. The job offers are just a few days old and are for work in the mentioned villages near Bratislava. Biedronka will open its first five stores in Levice, Nové Zámky, Považská Bystrica, Senica and Zvolen. (Index)
The Specialised Criminal Court sentenced Holocaust-denier Marián Magát to six years in prison with a minimum level of security for extremism. The crimes he committed between 2017-2021 relate to the establishment, support and promotion of a movement aimed at suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms, the production of extremist material or the denial and approval of the Holocaust. crimes of political regimes and crimes against humanity, among other things. (TASR)
On Wednesday, the government agreed to terminate two several decades old treaties regarding citizenships. One is a more than 60-year-old treaty between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Hungarian People's Republic preventing children born to a citizen of Hungary and a citizen of Slovakia from adopting both citizenships. The other is a similar treaty concluded in 1980 between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics preventing children born to a citizen of Russia and a citizen of Slovakia from adopting both citizenships. According to the Slovak Interior Ministry, both are in violation of the Constitution, and other international declarations Slovakia is bound by. (TASR)
Hikers walking by the Sesterské Pleso mountain lake near the Zbojnícka Chata mountain hut in the High Tatras. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Cloudy and occasionally foggy at the beginning of the day, especially in the western part of the country, but mostly sunny throughout the day. Daytime temperatures between 13 °C to 18 °C expected. (SHMÚ)
OCTOBER 24 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Kvetoslava
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