News digest: Slovakia with new president

Good evening. Here is the Monday, June 17 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

President changes official website

Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. (source: TASR)

Not even a day has passed since President Peter Pellegrini's inauguration, and the official standard disappeared from the official website of the post. The standard containing the coat of arms and white, blue, red band has been used by all previous heads of state, reported the Sme daily on Sunday.

It was replaced by a logo Pellegrini used during his campaign; it features the two stylized letters PP on a red background with a white, blue and red band in the lower right corner. The standard is not among the official state symbols.

The official website is property of the state funded from public resources and informs the public about the president's activities.

The official website of the president with Peter Pellegrini's logo. (source: SME/Prezident.sk)

The press department of the Presidential Office says that they plan to continue using Pellegrini's logo "primarily in cases of digital communication, as we have been doing so far". Pellegrini's team says the logo was created to "reflect national elements", and are preparing other changes to the official website as "the current website does not meet today's technological needs".

The president plans on using the standard in all forms of official communication.

On Monday, the official website once again showed the standard in the top left corner.

Reflections of the former president

President Zuzana Čaputová announces that she will not run for re-election in the 2024 presidential election on June 20, 2023. (source: SME - Marko Erd)

Now former Slovak president Zuzana Čaputová is looking forward to some time off before embarking on a new journey. In five years, she faced major crises, from a pandemic to a war.

"One of the hardest realisations was the gap between people’s expectations from the head of state and the actual powers held during these crises," she admits in an interview.

EVENT FOR COMING DAYS

The best Slovak literature

Illustratory image. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)

Anasoft Litera is an annual Slovak literature award dedicated to promoting local authors. Its Litera Fest book festival is aimed at presenting the top 10 books of the previous year. Over four days you will get the chance to meet individual authors, talk with them and maybe even have your book signed. For more information about the programme and participating venues, click here.

IN OTHER NEWS

Moody's Ratings affirmed Slovakia's A2 rating, the agency's sixth best rating. However, the outlook remains negative. In order to improve the rating, the Slovak government must finalise a credible savings plan and start implementing it, says the agency. Last week, the Fitch agency also affirmed its A- rating with a stable outlook. (Denník N).
A total of 793 chamois were counted during this year's spring inventory in Tatra National Park (TANAP). To avoid sweltering heat from the previous year, experts in both the Slovak and Polish part of the Tatras decided to start counting earlier. While 589 chamois were spotted on the former side, 204 individuals were counted on the latter. Last year, 816 chamois in total were spotted. Experts were pleased with the number of younglings this year; on the Slovak side there were 56, on the Polish 24. (TASR)

The chamois in the Tatras. (source: Marcel Tobis)

Speaking on public broadcaster RTVS's political show 'O 5 Minút 12', President Peter Pellegrini said that he is planning to visit all neighbouring countries, including Ukraine, with the Czech Republic being the first. He also pointed out the importance of Slovakia's membership in the EU and NATO. In addition, he also stated that the invitation for political parties to the round table still stands. (TASR)
Apartment rents have surged year-on-year again. Moreover, demand for rental apartments is on the rise too, since the interest in selling apartments has abated. These developments have been confirmed by the latest data in the Market Reports app of the Nehnuteľnosti.sk real estate website. (SITA)
Parliament approved a one-day toll sticker, costing €5.40 and that will be probably sold from August. Its introduction was required by the EU. Also, there will be only one year-long sticker, the 365-day one valid for the next year from the day of purchase. The one-day sticker will be valid until midnight on the day it was bought. In other words, it will not be valid for 24 hours after purchase. (Denník N)