(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Tuesday, June 14 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Court dismisses Babiš's lawsuit again
Andrej Babiš served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. (source: AP/TASR)
The Bratislava's regional court has again rejected ex-Czech PM Andrej Babiš's lawsuit against the Nation's Memory Institute, which lists him in its archived documents as an agent who collaborated with the Czechoslovak Secret Police (ŠtB) under communism.
The institute, known as the ÚPN, registers him as an agent under the name of Bureš, who reportedly cooperated with the Secret Police in the eighties. The Bratislava native insists that he did not collaborate with the Secret Police.
In its decision, the regional court said that Babiš should file a lawsuit against the Slovak Republic, not the institute.
In 2014: Babiš launched his lawsuit in January 2012, but a series of delays pushed the proceedings back again and again. He still insisted: "I will win."
In 2017: Here's more context on the 2017 Constitutional Court ruling on Babiš's case.
Quote: "I will continue to defend myself legally because the truth is on my side, I have never cooperated with the ŠtB, I did not sign anything, I was registered [by the ŠtB] without my knowledge and furthermore, I was investigated by the ŠtB," Czech politician Andrej Babiš said in reaction to the June 14 ruling.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:
DISINFORMATION: Facebook has cancelled Smer MP Ľuboš Blaha's page. Blaha repeatedly spread disinformation and hatred in his posts.
EDUCATION: The Education Ministry's "practical woman" study programme for the Roma has been showered with criticism. It reinforces stereotypes, some say.
ENVIRONMENT: The Slaná River is less orange, months after the media reported on this environmental disaster and who is to blame.
ECONOMY: What's in stock for the Slovak labour market in the coming year?
BUSINESS: Viktor Orbán's government in Hungary introduces new income taxes. People in Slovakia who use Budapest airport will also be affected.
FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
Hop on this old train
Zelený Anton steam locomotive. (source: OOCR TNP)
The strongest pre-war steam locomotive, the Zelený Anton (Green Anton), will be back on the tracks.
In central Slovakia, people will have a chance to take a ride on the train in mid-June. As the locomotive runs sporadically, the ride is a unique and special experience.
If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you.
IN OTHER NEWS:
A patient with the suspected monkeypox disease has been admitted to the Infectious Diseases Department of J. A. Reiman University Hospital in Prešov. No monkeypox case has been confirmed in Slovakia to date.
About 3,000 hospital doctors have so far declared that they are prepared to leave their jobs, said the head of the doctor's trade union, Peter Visolajský after a meeting with PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO). The number may increase, he added.
At the Slovalco aluminum plant in Žiar nad Hronom, a new remelting centre for €15 million has been put into operation. Thanks to the investment, the plant will be able to increase the share of recycled aluminum production by 55,000 tons. Still, the firm warns of an uncertain future.
From July 1, the use of 1 and 2 eurocent coins will be restricted. The rules for rounding cash-paid purchases will enter into force. (source: TASR - František Iván)
The agreement on the association of the Slovak Republic with the European Space Agency was signed in the Netherlands by the Education Ministry's State Secretary, Ľudovít Paulis, on June 14.
MPs will try to override President Zuzana Čaputová's veto on the Matovič's "family" package next week, on June 21.
Inflation rose in May year-on-year for the sixteenth consecutive month. While its value was 8.4 percent in January, it reached a new 22-year high of 12.6 percent in May. The month-on-month rise in prices reached 1.6 percent in May, the Statistics Office said.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
