Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, March 19 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in a few minutes.
Rebellious MP assumes 'unwanted' post
From left: PM Robert Fico in the back, new Investment Minister Samuel Migaľ, President Peter Pellegrini. (source: SITA)
On Tuesday, Samuel Migaľ and Radomír Šalitroš, two former rebellious Hlas MPs, struck a deal with PM Robert Fico (Smer), the latter thus securing their backing for his government. The details remained undisclosed at the time, with some only to emerge the next day.
On Wednesday afternoon, President Peter Pellegrini appointed Migaľ as the new Investments Minister, replacing Richard Raši from Hlas. The coalition party relinquished the ministry in February as part of the government reshuffle in an attempt to stabilise the governing coalition.
This comes after both MPs dismissed claims that it is a ministerial post they were after. Instead, they wanted to remain in the parliament so that they could have an influence on the coalition laws. In fact, over the last few months, there were several that both refused to back, including Migaľ's refusal to approve an SNS proposal regarding financing of sport and NGOs, among others. Neither will have any chance to influence the laws from the ministry.
Taking to his Facebook page, Migaľ said that an agreement was made to 'prevent people like [the Slovensko movement chair] Igor Matovič from geting into the government or MPs that are close to extremism returning to the parliament'.
However, the details of the agreement remain unclear. Migaľ claims that he and Šalitroš will be independent executive members and will thus be free from political agreements. Nevertheless, the Instestment Ministry belongs to Smer and Migaľ is the party's nominee. It remains to be seen how Smer will oversee the ministry.
According to Migaľ, Šalitroš will become the state secretary at the ministry. In the parliament, both will be replaced by loyal Hlas MPs, with one being Richard Raši and the other either the former state secretary at the ministry Michal Kaliňák if the government does dismiss him, or businessman Marek Dragula who was on the Hlas slate and should support the governing coalition. Should they have remained in the parliament, the coalition would have only a narrow majority of 76 certain votes.
With Migaľ and Šalitroš out of the way, who Hlas had ousted earlier this year, only Hlas MP Ján Ferenčák remains from the original rebellious group.
Richard Raši. (source: TASR)
Interesting fact: This is the first time in any Robert Fico government that out of 16 ministries, four are headed by people who have either lost ties to their former parties, or have a loose relationship with them. In addition to Migaľ, this includes Sport and Tourism Minister Rudolf Huliak who defected from SNS, and Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba and Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová who were both nominated by SNS, but were not given the opportunity to join the party.
Related: Richard Raši now expects that a new Speaker of Parliament, a post that has been vacant since former speaker Peter Pellegrini has become president, will now be appointed at the upcoming parliamentary session that will start on March 25. According to him, the vote has been postponed until after the coalition has secured 79 MPs. He reiterated that the post belongs to Hlas following the government agreement. It is expected that Raši himself will become the new Speaker.
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FEATURE STORY
Making waves in space
Visualisation of GRBBeta in space. The small satelite is a successor to the world’s smallest astrophysics space observatory, GRBAlpha – the first CubeSat to detect a gamma-ray burst (GRB) from space. It was built by Slovak company Spacemanic. (source: ESA/Spacemanic)
Following on from the success of its predecessor GRBAlpha, which the European Space Agency dubbed 'the world's smallest astrophysics space observatory', Slovakia's fourth satellite - GRBBeta - launched into orbit last July. It's goal is ambitious as ever - to serve as a testing bed for technology for future constellations comprised of similar spacecraft.
EVENT FOR SATURDAY
Bratislava Zoo to open its next season
Sumatran orangutan Cahya with his mother, Mengala last year in the Bratislava Zoo. (source: TASR)
This Saturday between 10:00 and 15:00, the Bratislava Zoo is going to open its 65th season, promising a rich programme for everyone no matter the age. Visitors will be given the opportunity, for example, to learn more about reptiles, southern white rhinos, white-tailed porcupines and wild boars during guided feeding session. Find out more, including which buses to take, here.
IN OTHER NEWS
The Tourism and Sports Ministry has lost access to its Facebook and Instagram pages. Meta, the owner of both social media networks, did not officially comment on the matter, but is investigating it. According to the ministry, they are working together with Meta to resolve the issue. It also claims no content that would violate the terms and conditions has been published on either platform. However, unfounded speculations began circulating on the Internet, claiming the reason was Minister Rudolf Huliak's meeting with Russian Ambassador to Slovakia on Monday. According to Sme daily, Meta may have a problem with the minister himself as he has had two of his previous personal pages blocked over repeated re-posting of the content of extremist Daniel Bombic. The latter has been completely blocked on Meta platforms due to his spreading of hate. (SME)
The police and General Prosecutor's Office are checking whether extremist Daniel Bombic, also known as Danny Kollár, has not violated the ban from posting hateful content on social media. Both have suspicions that he adheres to conditions set by the Supreme Court which ruled he does not have to be remanded in custody in early February. Bombic faces prosecution for a number of crimes here in Slovakia, including extremism. He now wears an ankle monitor. Although banned from Meta's social media platforms, he has found a home on Telegram, on which he has two pages and posts messages attacking journalists such as TV Markíza reporter Martina Töröková, claiming that the private TV is a "Mossad cell", that Education Minister Tomáš Drucker is controlled by Israel, among other things. (SME)
President Peter Pellegrini announced on Tuesday another round table talks in regards to boosting Slovakia's defence capabilities and spending. The meeting will take place next Wednesday, March 26. The president has invited every party chair that had been invited to attend the previous talks, as well as Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) and Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Army Daniel Zmeko. Opposition KDH has accepted the invitation. On Wednesday, opposition parties Progressive Slovakia, SaS, KDH, Slovensko as well as non-parliamentary ones found mutual agreement in regards to defence and want to present their position to the president. (TASR)
The ESET Science Award enters its seventh year and announces that nominations to individual categories are now open until April 29. The theme of this year's edition will be 'Science as the pillar of trust', reflecting the key role science plays in building trust in facts. In addition, this will be the first time scientists from the various disciplines of social sciences and humanities will be included. (ESET)
After the winter break, the lower and middle courtyards of Spiš Castle, one of the largest castles in Europe located in eastern Slovakia, are once again open to the general public on a daily basis between 09:00 and 17:00 with the final entry at 16:00. Amenities are currently unavailable. The summer season will officially begin in May. (SITA)
Year-on-year inflation measured by the EU's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices slowed down from 4.2 percent in January to 4.1 percent in February, but it was higher than the rate measured by national methodology, which amounted to 3.8 percent in February, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. (TASR)
An exhibition of wooden toys dubbed "Playful Man" Homo Ludens is now on display in Zvolen, comprising of toys created by students of the Toy and Product Design Department at the Ružomberok School of Industrial Arts throughout the department's history. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Expect a cold night, especially in the valleys where the temperatures may drop to minus 10°C. However, the day will be sunny with temperatures rising to between 10°C to 15°C. (SHMÚ)
MARCH 20 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Víťazoslav, Klaudius
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