(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. Here is the Monday, January 9 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
So far, Heger's fight to avoid election seems in vain
Eduard Heger in parliament during the debate on the no-confidence vote. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) has not, so far, secured a majority of lawmakers to support his new cabinet, nearly a month after the collapse of his previous administration and despite reports of protracted negotiations.
"By no means will we give up," he stated on TV on Sunday.
OĽaNO, the largest party in the previous coalition, is trying to avert a snap election despite the fact that most people are in favour of one, according to opinion polls. Heger, nonetheless, has portrayed an early election as a nonsense, and even a big risk. His party says it wants to prevent ex-prime minister Robert Fico (Smer), who was charged last year with serious criminal offences (the charges were later dropped on the orders of the general prosecutor), from taking power for a fourth time.
On Monday, Heger announced he was collecting signatures in support of his proposed new government.
"My ambition is to lead the country until proper parliamentary elections in 2024," he stated via a post on Facebook.
He has until the end of January to obtain the 76 signatures he needs.
Analysis:Slovakia is on the brink of a snap election.
Commentary: Heger is relying on his self-confidence, despite previously exuding less of it at home than abroad.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Shopping: Yet more new new retail parks may pop up around Slovakia in 2023.
Real estate: A Czech developer wants to build a new tower in Bratislava's "new downtown".
Migration: Many Ukrainian doctors continue to wait months for the recognition of their diplomas in Slovakia, despite an acute shortage of some specialists in the country's health-care system.
Industry: Slovalco, Slovakia's only aluminium producer, can no longer afford to run its last ten remaining furnaces and has decided to shut them down.
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FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY
Slovaks help trace a meteor to its (unexpected) point of origin
The fireball captured by the Global Fireball Observatory camera at Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, Alberta. (source: University of Alberta)
An unusual meteor burned across the sky over the Canadian province of Alberta two years ago, and Slovak astronomers played a key role in discovering where it came from.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Another group of 38 Slovak police officers left for Hungary on Monday to protect the EU's external border with Serbia. The first group operated in Hungary from October to December 2022.
Unknown perpetrators are misusing the name of Slovenská Pošta, the national postal services provider, to send out fraudulent e-mails to customers from customerservice@slposta.sk, an e-mail address actually used by the firm's customer service department. The provider stresses it never asks people for payments or their payment details via e-mail, social media or text message.
The opposition SaS party has said nobody has approached it to negotiate support for interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger's new cabinet. SaS added that its next party conference, at which delegates will elect a new leader, will take place in April. Richard Sulík, who has led the party since it was founded in 2009, will run for re-election. (TASR)
Ski slopes in the Jahodná resort, Košice Region, are closed due to unsuitable conditions; only its ski school remains open. (source: TASR – František Iván)
No military mobilisation is being prepared in Slovakia, the police have said, in an attempt to dispel a hoax that has been spreading around the country. Planned military exercises do take place twice a year, but have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. Professional soldiers and selected district offices take part in them, not civilians.
The Economy Ministry continues to register a decline in natural gas consumption during the ongoing heating season. The drop in November was 15.12 per cent compared to the five-year average, 25.78 per cent in October, 25.86 per cent in September, and 23.14 per cent in August.
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