Good evening. Here is theTuesday, March 12 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
RTVS Board’s problem with a quote
RTVS' creative centre in Bratislava. (source: TASR)
The board of the public broadcaster RTVS criticised a Sunday news report about the Czech film award ceremony, Český Lev (Czech Lion), which the board saw as political manipulation.
The report talked about Slovakia’s achievements at the event. Among other things, it also featured a short statement made by Slovak director Peter Bebjak on stage. Last Saturday, he won a Czech Lion award for the miniseries Matematika Zločinu (The Mathematics of Crime).
“I believe that Slovaks, who are more numerous, are the sensitive ones, the ones who will always fight for justice and democratic principles. Remember, please, this is who we are,” Bebjak said, as quoted in the report.
Although the board members said on Monday that they didn’t criticise Bebjak, they believe that the authors of the report exploited the public service medium. For example, Jozef Chudík is convinced that it was conscious political manipulation in RTVS’ reporting. It's not unique, he told the TASR news agency.
“Then you wonder that when we are criticised from the outside we have politicised news,” he noted.
RTVS refuted the manipulation of its reporting.
Bebjak’s full onstage statement: “Slovaks aren’t arrogant, nor are they in any way people who want to spread hatred, spread hoaxes, or worship some criminal power. Unfortunately, these are the people who are ruling us now. But nothing lasts forever. I believe that Slovaks, who are more numerous, are the sensitive ones, the ones who will always fight for justice and democratic principles. Remember, please, that this is who we are. Another proverb: Wise people learn from the mistakes of others. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed for your [next year’s] elections.”
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Politics: The coalition reveals how it wants to turn RTVS into a state broadcaster.
Travel: Scientists studied ice in the Dobšinská Ice Cave. Here’s what they found.
Animal: A beaver spotted walking near a Košice shopping mall.
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FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
Chernomorka pulls it off in Slovakia
The Chernomorka restaurant in Bratislava. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Chernomorka is a Ukrainian restaurant chain that has become a legend in Ukraine. There are dozens of types of fish and seafood prepared in a variety of ways. The popular fish restaurant can now be found in the Slovak capital.
SLOVAK LANGUAGE TEST
The Maturita marathon kicks off
"Don't disturb - Maturita Exam!" (source: TASR)
Instead of an event recommendation, how about testing your Slovak language skills? More than 41,000 secondary school students will sit the written part of the school-leaving exam, Maturita, from today until Friday.
On Tuesday, they sat the Slovak Language test, and some also took the Hungarian Language test. Tomorrow will be about English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
Here’s the test from Slovak. The correct answers have not yet been published. Students also had to write a longer written piece. Four options were available to them:
1) Like master, like dog (characteristics)
2) Then I felt like I was in a computer game (narration)
3) There is good and evil in every person, but the choice is yours... (essay)
4) Speech of a student on the occasion of a visit to a partner school in another region (speech)
In other news
In May 2022, the Supreme Court agreed with the detention of lawyer Marek Para but this was illegal, the Constitutional Court has said. His rights were breached in June 2022, too. The Supreme Court then dismissed his complaint and didn’t exclude Supreme Court Judge Juraj Kliment from the execution of criminal proceedings in his case. The prosecutor charged Para with supporting an organised crime group. The charges were dismissed by the court over procedural blunders last year. Para continues to be investigated in the case. He is currently PM Robert Fico’s advisor.(TASR)
Two of 10 new bidirectional trams were delivered to the Bratislava Public Transport Company (DPB) on Tuesday, with the rest slated to arrive in May. These new bidirectional trams will complement 20 unidirectional trams delivered in the last year. (video)
The Transport Ministry has announced that the introduction of the one-day electronic vignette is being postponed due to the incomplete legislative process. They expect the introduction of the vignette in the second half of the year. (SITA)
Slovakia should have a new hydrogen station in June. It will be constructed near Trnava, said the Nuclear Energy Company of Slovakia (JESS). (SITA)
Four energy companies have been fined more than €7 million for participating in a cartel. According to the Antimonopoly Office, SPIE Elektrovod, AlterEnergo, LiV ELEKTRA and KLEMENT agreed on a common procedure for submitting public procurement bids for the supply of construction and assembly works, as well as related goods and services necessary for the construction of electrical equipment. The tender was announced by the Slovak Electricity Transmission System. (SITA)
At the beginning of the year, construction recorded a double-digit decrease, the most significant in the last 21 months. (source: Statistics Office)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Cloudy to overcast skies are expected throughout the day. There will be occasional showers or periods of rain. Daily temperatures will range from 9 to 15 degrees Celsius, with cooler temperatures in the northern regions around 7 degrees Celsius. Predominantly north winds are anticipated, with speeds reaching up to 35 kilometres per hour. (SHMÚ)
MARCH 13 NAME'S DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Vlastimil.
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