(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Tuesday, June 28 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
No airport queues in Bratislava
Passengers wait in long lines to check in and board flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, on June 21, 2022. (source: AP)
Unlike several European airports where passengers must stand in long queues for staff shortages, strikes and flight cancellations, the international airport in Bratislava reports no such disruptions.
The airport has said that people may wait a little longer in cases where several flights are scheduled to depart around the same time.
"We are experiencing a staff shortage," the airport's head Dušan Keketi admitted. The airport has hired 120 part-time workers, and full-time workers have to work extra hours to keep the waiting time to the minimum.
The shortage is the outcome of the pandemic, when several employees decided to quit their jobs at the Bratislava airport. The airport is still hiring people, including fire fighters and check-in agents.
Flights in the summer: See the airport's summer schedule, including Ryanair's schedule for the summer.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:
CLIMATE CHANGE: Slovaks are confused about what causes climate change and how to fight it, a Masaryk University survey shows.
LAW: Slovakia's largest law firms have shown which individuals and organisations they represent free of charge.
CUISINE: Chef Brian Navarro brings the heat to Bratislava with his new Mexican restaurant, Mezcalli.
NUCLEAR ENERGY:Nuclear-energy tenders between JAVYS, a Slovak firm, and Nucleco, an Italian firm, were to be concluded without a public competition, an Italian daily writes.
HUNTING:Bear hunting is banned in Slovakia, but various game is still hunted for a fee.
OPINION FOR TUESDAY
Buying a flat in Slovakia is beyond a nightmare
James Thomson writes about his recent experience of buying a new home in Bratislava. (source: SITA)
Briton James Thomson recently went through the hair-raising process of buying a flat, and his opinion piece divided into seven stages, describes how it went.
Get ready for some denial, depression, anger, and a happy ending!
If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you.
IN OTHER NEWS:
SaS, one of four coalition parties, will hold a meeting of its members on July 6 to decide on the party's future in the coalition government due to ongoing conflicts and verbal attacks within the government. The coalition crisis began in early May.
The wearing of respirators may again be mandatory in some situations in the coming months. Restrictions should not be reintroduced, claims the Health Ministry's short-term Covid-19 pandemic management strategy.
Economy Minister Richard Sulík (SaS) will submit a gas supply plan for the years 2023 and 2024, which should confirm Slovakia's preparedness for possible gas cutoffs by Russia, by July 12.
The government has approved a new operational programme, Slovakia, through which €12.6 billion allocated to Slovakia by the EU will be drawn from EU funds. The programme, which should run until 2027, will replace a group of programmes coming to an end.
Bratislava's Old Town borough will change its heat supplier. MH Teplárenský Holding, a state-owned company, will replace the Termming company in heat distribution from next year. The borough should conclude a new contract for 20 years.
In Polomka, central Slovakia, US, UK and Slovak Defence Ministry representatives honoured dozens of British and American soldiers who helped Slovak people in the 1944 Slovak National Uprising against Nazi Germany. Nazi units captured 218 soldiers in December 1944 near Polomka and executed them in the Mauthausen camp a month later. "Their legacy reminds us that freedom is not free," the US embassy tweeted. (source: US embassy)
Slovak Telekom, which was exposed to a cyber attack, has restored some of its systems. Customers can buy data through SMS and top up their credit through ATMs or at stores. They can also access the firm's website, but Telekom's online shop is still unavailable. The Telekom app is not functioning for the time being.
The government has approved the purchase of 152 tracked armoured vehicles, the CV90 MkIV, from Sweden, which will replace Soviet-era vehicles. The purchase is expected to bring Slovakia closer to establishing its long-promised mechanised brigade. An interview with retired general Pavel Macko offers a detailed analysis of neglected Slovak defence.
Finance Minister Igor Matovič said that his OĽaNO party, a major ruling party, has two candidates who might replace the incumbent Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nominee). Matovič, who is critical of Lengvarský, did not reveal the names.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
