Good evening. Here is the Thursday, November 30edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
PM Fico’s meeting with ambassadors
US Ambassador Gautam Rana and Slovak PM Robert Fico hold a meeting in Bratislava on November 30, 2023. (source: Facebook/Robert Fico)
Prime Minister Robert Fico met with two ambassadors, US Ambassador Gautam Rana and Russian Ambassador Igor Bratchikov, on Thursday to share with them how he thinks Slovakia’s relations with these two superpowers should develop further.
He also stressed that the EU and NATO memberships shouldn’t limit the country’s sovereign positions. Fico emphasised that the priority of his government’s foreign policy will be to defend Slovak interests. One of them is the support of peace initiatives in Ukraine, not the war.
Ambassador Rana said the United States supports peace in Ukraine, but the only obstacle to achieving it is Vladimir Putin. He called on Russia to stop the invasion and withdraw its military forces.
Fico added that Slovakia has an obligation to prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and for the standardisation of Slovak-Russian relations.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Politics: Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová said that she is outraged by a queer art painting exhibited in the Slovak Radio building in November.
Travel: This castle in central Slovakia has four drawbridges.
Business: Hauliers will block Slovak-Ukrainian crossing point to ‘save Slovak transport’.
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CHRISTMAS RECIPE
Slovak wafers
Making oplátky (source: Naomi Hužovičová)
As Christmas approaches, stores and markets in Slovakia start to stock bundles of thin wafers called vianočné oplátky or oblátky, depending on the region. Let’s learn how to prepare them with a Slovak grandmother.
BRATISLAVA EVENTS
What to do in the capital for free?
Tipos Arena will be open to the public over the weekend so that they could enjoy ice skating. (source: Pixabay)
Grab your ice skates and go to Tipos Arena, where their ice rink is open to the public this weekend. Or check out two other recommendations.
In other news
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko, one of the coalition leaders, has been assigned bodyguards by the Interior Ministry, TV Markíza reported. Danko is only entitled to a chauffeur. The ministry refused to comment on the details. However, Danko said off the record that he had faced threats in the past.
A special tram will ride around Bratislava on Friday afternoon. Tram 9 will highlight the importance of HIV testing. December 1 is World AIDS Day. On the tram, passengers can obtain a red ribbon. Several buildings such as the Presidential Palace, UFO, Old Market Hall, and the Slovak National Theatre will be lit up in red.
New train timetable will be valid from December 10. The new schedule will speed up the commercial line from Vienna to Košice and back. The journey by train IC 44 from Košice to Vienna will be shortened by 32 minutes (5 hours and 50 minutes). In the opposite direction, by train IC 45, the journey will be shortened by 46 minutes (5 hours and 45 minutes). According to the national carrier ZSSK, these trains will no longer stop at the main station in Bratislava. They will stop at Bratislava-Petržalka, Bratislava-Nové Mesto and Bratislava-Predmestie stations.
Speaker of Parliament Peter Pellegrini (Hlas) plans to visit Ukraine in the near future. He said this after a meeting with the Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová. The date has not been set. Pellegrini also said that Slovakia will not stop the production of ammunition that subsequently ends up in Ukraine. He also emphasised that Slovakia will never tolerate the taking of the territory of a sovereign country by military aggression.
Of seven prominent police officers suspended by Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas), four can return to work. In the other three cases, the Bratislava IV City Court said that it is not authorised to decide.
Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová (SNS nom.) will give €300,000, a sum that should have been used to combat disinformation, to repair the roof of the Slovak Philharmonic and to support libraries.
Christmas markets in Prešov, eastern Slovakia. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy and misty weather. Snow in many places. Gradually rain or freezing rain in southern Slovakia. In the evening, in the west, it can snow now and then. The highest daytime temperature will range from -1°C to 4°C.(SHMÚ)
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