(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Monday, September 5 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Heger's cabinet shrinks, new ministers unknown
Prime Minister Eduard Heger. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
The Slovak government has lost its majority in parliament after the SaS party officially left the coalition government of four parties on Monday, September 5.
Following last week's resignation letter submitted by SaS chair and leaving Economy Minister Richard Sulík, three other SaS ministers decided to step down on Monday. Among them is Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok.
"As of today, Slovakia has a minority government," PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) announced.
Despite plenty of time, the PM failed to save the majority after he refused to meet SaS' condition - sacking Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO).
The replacement for the four departing ministers is unclear, but they are said to be experts more than politicians.
Opposition: Hlas, a party leading in public opinion polls and chaired by ex-PM Peter Pellegrini, said that this is the end of the coalition government. The party is calling for an early election. Progressive Slovakia, led by MEP Michal Šimečka, noted that the government is gambling with people's trust.
Commentary: Why does it matter that politicians are politicians? The Slovak Spectator editor-in-chief Michaela Terenzani explains in her Today in Slovakia weekly newsletter summing up events from the previous week.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:
Politics: Almost 700,000 children returned to school on Monday after the summer holidays.
Police: Some people received fake call-up papers to attend a military exercise.
Travel: A pilgrimage spot in Slovakia caught the attention of believers in Latin America.
FEATURE FOR MONDAY
US philosopher: I have done my best work here
Jon Stewart with his book. (source: Martin Bystriansky/SAV)
At the beginning of this year, the Association of American Publishers announced the winners of its prestigious annual PROSE Awards, which recognise the best scholarly and scientific works. This year the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) had reason to celebrate: for the first time, an employee of one of its institutes received a PROSE award.
From among 560 entries across various categories, a book by American philosopher and historian of philosophy Jon Stewart was chosen as the winner in the philosophy category.
After working at several leading research institutes and universities around the world, including Harvard University, Stewart now works at the SAV's Institute of Philosophy.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
Even at the fourth attempt, the government did not approve measures to tame soaring energy prices. On Wednesday, the government will sit over the issue again.
The number of unemployed people amounted to 169,900 in the second quarter of this year, down by 10 percent y-o-y. The downward trend in the number of the unemployed continued for the fourth consecutive quarter. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points y-o-y to 6.1 percent, the Statistics Office reported on Monday.
The latest unemployment numbers in Slovakia and its regions (y-o-y). (source: Statistics Office)
The first Covid-19 vaccines against the Omicron variant should arrive this week, said Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nom.). People aged 50 or over can get jabbed with the vaccine.
This year's summer was ranked among the warmest in the history of meteorological measurements in Slovakia, the meteorological office said.
Average August 2022 temperatures around Slovakia. (source: Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute)
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
