Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, October 17 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
President receives Fico's list of future ministers
Hlas chair Peter Pellegrini. He may become the Speaker of Parliament soon. (source: TASR)
Smer leader and soon-to-be prime minister Robert Fico met with President Zuzana Čaputová on Tuesday to hand her a list of possible ministers.
Smer, a populist party, has not revealed the names of its six ministers, though. Some of them will be in charge of foreign affairs, justice or defence. On Tuesday, Hlas, one of the three coalition parties, presented all its six ministers and its deputy PM for the recovery plan, former diplomat Peter Kmec. These nominations are no surprise.
Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini should be elected the next speaker of parliament.
The ultranationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) nominated Očová mayor Rudolf Huliak and disinformation TV star Martina Šimkovičová for ministers. They both attack LGBT+ community and spread disinformation. Šimkovičová might be responsible for the Culture Ministry, Huliak for the environment.
The opposition has called on Smer and Hlas to intervene and stop these two SNS nominations.
Opinion: Beata Balogová, editor of the daily Sme, reflects on the emerging coalition government.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Automotive: Citroën unveiled what is said to be the cheapest European-built electric car. A plant in Trnava will produce it.
Archaeology: An old copper alloy dividers with the remains of iron points has been discovered by archaeologists near Pezinok.
Restaurant: A new restaurant, Marai Bistro, has opened in Košice.
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FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
In Slovakia, a Ukrainian became someone she couldn't be at home
Kasha Potrohosh in an older performance of hers entitled “Nostalgic Experience”. (source: Courtesy of K. P.)
Oleksandra "Kasha" Potrohosh is an artist who comes from western Ukraine. In her art, she discusses important topics. One of them is the war in Ukraine. Last year, she took part in a staged protest outside the Russian embassy in Bratislava.
EVENT FOR THIS WEEK
Drama Queer
"Our Son" is a Serbian performance that explores the boundaries of acceptance and rejection. (source: Facebook/Festival Queer Drama)
The queer drama festival will present 11 performances in the cultural centre P*AKT, A4, and the Slovak National Theatre, starting from Thursday.
Serbia, Czechia, Poland, Great Britain and Slovakia will all be represented at the festival.
Since 2012, Drama Queer has been striving to push the boundaries of the theatre scene in central Europe, focusing mainly on topics related to the LGBT+ community and social justice.
Date: Oct 19-28, 2023
Tickets:here
In other news
The current wage gap between men and women in Slovakia is 18.8 percent, while the EU average is 13 percent. Women have to work about two months longer than men to reach the same annual wages, according to a survey by the agency 2muse. Fifty-seven percent of respondents think that women do not have sufficient support from their employers after returning from maternity leave. (TASR)
The elecricity producer Slovenské Elektrárne completed the power start-up of the third Mochovce unit with the last test in the active test phase - 144-hour trial run at full reactor power, the company announced on Tuesday. The six-day run demonstrated that the new unit is capable of safe operation.
Postage should increase by 11.4 percent from the new year. Slovenská Pošta, a national postal services provider, proposes that due to increased inflation and a slump in business. It would mean an annual increase in the cost of regulated postal services by about €0.16 cents for customers. (Denník N)
The refinery Slovnaft puts into operation a new ethylene storage tank for €70 million. It is said to reduce the need for regular shutdown of the polyethylene production unit by half. This will reduce the volume of CO2 emissions as well as the consumption of electricity. Residents living near the refinery will feel a reduction in regular gas flaring, i.e. burning off unwanted gases. (SITA)
Stanislav Lobotka (Slovakia) and Vincent Thill (Luxembourg) in the J-group match of the EURO 2024 qualification in Luxembourg on October 16, 2023. Slovakia defeated Luxembourg 1-0. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Sunny skies. Expect fog in the morning in some places and cold weather. The highest daytime temperature will rise to 16°C. In the Orava and the Tatras region, the daytime temperature will not exceed 9°C. (SHMÚ)
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