Good evening. Here is the Monday, July 31 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Dog-whistling leaves no doubt as to Republika's intentions
The dog-whistle messaging of Repubilka’s leaders leaves observers in no doubt about their true identity: “We will put things in order”, says one of the billboards. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Extremist Republika’s leader Milan Uhrík, who currently serves as an MEP in Brussels, as well as other high-profile MPs, has spent long enough in politics (and in receipt of parliamentary salaries) to acquire the funds and veneer of more conventional politicians, which in turn has helped to convince a significant share of voters that they do not deserve the label of fascist.
Still, the dog-whistle messaging of Repubilka’s leaders leaves observers in no doubt about their true identity, writes Michaela Terenzani in her latest edition of the Last Week in Slovakia and adds that this is the most pessimistic scenario partners in the west have to fear.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
OPINION: Slovakia is busy building cycling paths. To make urban cycling work, the attitudes of drivers, planners and politicians need to change.
BUSINESS: Daitable, a Slovak energy saving startup, heads for the global finals of student startups in Denmark.
BRATISLAVA: The Slovak capital regains control of parking in the Old Town, delineates a new zone.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Slovak and Hungarian foreign ministers in a social media dispute after the latter's critique of the EU.
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FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY
Peter Sagan brought about modern cycling
Peter Sagan at 2019 Tour de France (source: AP/TASR)
Peter Sagan's story at the Tour de France is a long one that even a ten-part TV series could not tell properly.
His performance was exceptional: he won 12 stages, wore the leader's yellow jersey for 4 days, the green jersey for 130 days, was the most active rider in an entire Tour; but also a selfless helper who led the way in a mountain stage to help a teammate, and a showman who entertained people.
All you had to do was sit back and watch him. You were guaranteed a spectacle.
EVENT FOR THE WEEK
Wine Under the Stars
The eighth year of the romantic event Wine Under the Stars will take place on Friday and Saturday, August 4-5, in the vineyards of the town of Pezinok. Admission: €40.
For more information, click here (in English).
In other news
In the first half of 2023, the banking sector in Slovakia achieved a net profit of €564.6 million, which is a year-on-year increase of 46.6 percent. Net interest income, which makes up the largest part of the banking sector's income, rose year-on-year by 30.2 percent to €1.07 billion.
Last Monday's bright flash in the sky above south Slovakia probably resulted from meteorite showers, with the largest piece weighing up to two kilograms, reports the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which calculated the path of the body. The location of the likely impact, about 12 kilometres long and less than a kilometre wide, is located near the Málinec water reservoir in the forested area near the town of Rimavská Sobota.
So far this year, 6,397 job offers abroad have been published on the Slovak job search website Profesia. People from Slovakia most often respond to job offers in Germany. In the first half of 2023, more than 1,800 offers to work in this country were published by Profesia. The website registered 30,000 reactions. The second most attractive country is the Czech Republic, followed by the Netherlands. People are the most interested in translation and interpreting. Despite the large number of job offers in mechanical engineering, demand remains low in this field.
In the first half of 2023, 1,086 new electric vehicles were sold in Slovakia. Year-on-year sales increased by almost 64 percent in the first six months. As for car brands, Škoda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen were the most successful in the group of sold electric cars. Cars with gasoline engines are still the most popular in Slovakia.
If the parliamentary election had been held in late July, the Smer party led by Robert Fico would have won with 18.1 percent of votes, followed by Peter Pellegrini's Hlas party with 16 percent and Progresívne Slovensko with 14.3 percent, according to the latest poll conducted by the Focus agency for the private TV channel Markíza.
WEATHER FOR TUESDAY:
At first light cloud cover that will gradually increase, with showers and rain, occasionally storms expected later tomorrow. Daily temperatures between 25 °C to 30 °C. Level 1 rain warning applies for several districts from north to south Slovakia. (SHMÚ)
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