Slovakia's top cyclist Peter Sagan is retiring from professional road cycling after a hugely successful career. (source: Marko Erd, SME)
Good afternoon! Here is the Friday, February 17 edition of Today in Slovakia – the main news of the day in less than five minutes. To get ready for the weekend, check out our Spectacular Slovakia Roundup.
Slovakia isn't blocking repairs, says Naď
Damaged German-made weapons systems that are being used by Ukrainian forces and urgently need to be repaired are piling up near the Slovak-Ukrainian border.
The German-language. edition of the Business Insider website reported that Slovakia is blocking the movement of the damaged military equipment to a repair centre in eastern Slovakia. It cited high-ranking German government sources.
However, Slovakia's acting defence minister, Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO), has rejected the criticism, saying that the issues were the repsonsibility of a German contractor, and have now been resolved.
Read more about the repair programme in question, and the customs and legal issues which seem to be behind the claims.
A destroyed tank in Ukraine tank (illustrative image). (source: Jozef Jakubčo, SME)
More stories on Spectator.sk
CULTURE:Carnivals, parades, night-time fun in the snow. Find out what to do over the weekend.
ECONOMICS: Following complaints from the gas pipeline operator Eustream, it will not be affected by a special new tax on energy companies, the TASR newswire reports. Read more about Eustream and the contentious tax in our recent story.
TRAVEL: An archaeological site in Orava has revealed a polycultural site.
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Feature story of the day
Top Slovak cyclist remembers his roots
Peter Sagan, 33, has announced he will retire from road cycling at the end of the current season. He is considered one of the greatest road cyclists of his generation, having won three world championships and a dozen stages of the Tour de France.
It won't be the very end of his cycling career, however, as he plants to return to mountain biking. His coach says that this is only natural as it's where Sagan's story first started. He still likes to train on mountain bikes, his coach added.
In mountain biking, the season is shorter, with fewer races. Read more on how the shorter cycling season will pose both as a disadvantage and an advantage for Peter Sagan.
Peter Sagan (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
In other news
MPs overrode the veto of President Zuzana Čaputová and approved the scrapping of public-service broadcaster concession fees, as well as changes to the system of motor vehicle registration fees. The part introducing a special tax for gas pipeline operator Eustream was removed from the bill in question.
MPs also overrode the president's veto to approve an amendment to current legislation on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). The legislation has been attacked by critics who claim it will limit citizens’ rights to object to projects.
The Office of Health Supervision has filed a criminal report concerning iClinic in regards to alleged harms to health, forgery, fraud and falsification of medical reports. The criminal complaint is based on inspections of iClinic’s eye clinics, which the office carried out based on requests by members of the public. According to the findings, in several cases there was incorrect provision of health care, which resulted in serious damage to patients' vision, the office’s spokesperson Monika Hudecová commented. (TASR)
Spring vacation brings the highest numbers of emergency calls, Slovakia's Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) writes. Other than responding to skiing incidents, requests for treatment, search parties, and transport, the HZS also records many serious and fatal injuries. It recommends that people study the weather forecasts, carefully consider the physical conditions, and prepare their equipment in detail. (TASR)
An app for identifying signs of autism, developed by an Australian research centre, is now available in the Slovak language. The app helps parents to identify signs of autism in their children at as early as 11 months of age. More than 1,000 users have downloaded the app already. (TASR)
The airport serving the western-Slovak spa town of Piešťany has its first official scheduled flights. The destination is Tel Aviv (Israel). It hopes to boost tourism within the region. (SME)
Weather for the weekend
Saturday in Slovakia will be cloudy. The temperature is expected to increase slightly in western parts, varying from 10°C to 16°C. Slightly lower temperatures are expected in central and eastern Slovakia, ranging from 7°C to 14°C. Expect rain in eastern Slovakia and in the regions surrounding the Tatra mountains.
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