(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
This is the Friday, May 21, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia.
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In today's digest:
Police wanted to detain former criminal agency head. He is abroad
Wine cellars in Bratislava and its vicinity open for wine lovers
Check out the Spectacular Slovakia roundup for weekend reading tips
Police wanted to detain former criminal agency head. He is abroad
The police attempted to detain Branislav Zurian, who, until recently, served as director of the National Criminal Agency (NAKA), on the morning of Friday, May 21 on charges that the police did not specify to the media. When the police turned up at his home in Poprad, they did not find him there, the Denník N daily informed. Zurian is currently abroad, but he is in contact with the investigator.
“I am not aware of having committed any crime,” Zurian told Denník N. He plans to take a Covid test and report to the police once he is back in Slovakia, he said.
Third Covid wave will come, but it will be milder
Restrictions are gradually being lifted in almost all parts of Slovakia as the pandemic eases after the second wave of infections. At one point during the second wave, the country found itself at the top of the global Covid-19 mortality charts.
But scientists have been at pains in recent weeks to point out that the improved epidemiological situation is unlikely to last indefinitely.
Epidemiologists and disease modelling experts say a further wave of infections is likely at some point in the autumn but add that the protection from vaccinations among the population means it should not be as deadly as the recent wave which claimed more than 12,000 lives.
And they said that while infection, hospitalisation, and death rates across the country are falling, people should not think that the disease is about to disappear.
More Covid news
Experts have proposed a traffic light system for travelling during the summer of 2021, Foreign Ministry’s State Secretary Martin Klus said. It will divide countries into groups based on the situation with the virus, with rules for travelling to these groups of countries. The system should apply as of Thursday, May 27 but has yet to be okayed by the cabinet and announced in the Public Health Office ordinance. For current Covid travel rules in Slovakia, check our guide.
European vaccination certificates or so-called green passes will be freely available through Slovakia’s National Health Information Centre (NCZI) as of June 26. They will feature a QR code, Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský reported on Friday, May 21.
Wine cellars in Bratislava and its vicinity open for wine lovers
Wine tastes the best in the place where it's produced, wine producers often say. To give wine lovers the best possible experience, wine producers of the Small Carpathian Wine Route will open their cellars to celebrate St Urban, the patron saint of wine growers, this Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22.
In total, 112 historical and modern cellars will be open during the 14th edition of the Open Cellars on St Urban Day in Bratislava’s boroughs of Devín, Rača and Vajnory as well as in traditional the wine-making towns and villages of Svätý Jur, Pezinok, Modra, Šenkvice or Doľany. The wine producers will offer wines from last year’s harvest as well as their vintage wines at this wine tasting event.
Feature story for today
Bratislava is the centre of the world for Mihály Brogyányi even though its location makes it more of a crossroads. Here, the lowlands meet the mountains, the Danube with a castle, the north with the south, the East with the West, the Hungarian, German and Slovak languages, culture, religions and worldviews that enrich the people.
The story of Brogyányi’s family is one of nine presented at the We Are Old Pressbugers exhibition, marking the tenth anniversary of the Bratislavské Rožky civic association, devoted to promoting Bratislava’s history. The word Pressburgers refers to families that used to live in what was once called Pressburg, today's Bratislava, when it used to be a trilingual city.
Picture for today
The Slovak arm of the German carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia exhibits in the Slovak Technical Museum - Museum of Transport close to the main station in Bratislava all the models it has produced in Bratislava since the launch of the plant 30 years ago. They include models of Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Škoda, Seat as well as the functioning study of a four-wheel, Háčik, the only car of its kind in the world.
Video for today
The National Bank of Slovakia, the country’s central bank, is marking three anniversaries by issuing collector coins, but also by artistically illuminating the facade of its headquarters in Bratislava from May 20 until May 22. The 200th anniversary of Janko Matúška, poet and author of the lyrics of the Slovak anthem; the 100th anniversary of the launch of the underground hydroelectric power plant in Kremnica; and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Slovak Teachers’ Choir will be celebrated.
OTHER
Bratislava has taken action against mosquitoes by applying the biological larvicide BTI in several localities of the city to destroy insect larvae. The first treated localities are in the boroughs of Devín, Devínska Nová Ves, Rusovce and Rača.
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