Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, March 26 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in a few minutes.
SNS almost takes down coalition proposal
SNS chair Andrej Danko in the parliament. (source: Marko Erd)
On Wednesday, the parliament approved the deployment of 155 Slovak soldiers to the NATO multinational brigade in Latvia this year. They could serve in the country until the end of the Forward Land Forces mission. In addition, the house also approved a proposal to send 150 soldiers and 80 pieces of equipment as part of the KFOR mission in Kosovo.
Ahead of the vote, coalition and pro-Russian SNS party announced it would not back both proposals, as well as Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák's (Smer) proposal to establish a Gendarmerie Corps that could help the police to maintain public order since the latter lack manpower.
"Our soldiers have no business operating on the border with Russia. It's inconceivable that, on the one hand, PM Robert Fico (Smer) wants to visit Russia on May 9 and shake hands with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, while on the other, Slovakia is sending soldiers to the border with Russia," said SNS spokesperson Zuzana Skopcová.
Despite SNS's refusal to back the proposals, the house approved sending of Slovak soldiers, as opposition parties voted in favour.
In a more interesting turn of events, the parliament approved Kaliňák's proposal by one vote delivered by Peter Kotlár, the government-appointed investigator into Slovakia's Covid-19 response, who entered the parliament on the SNS slate.
Just before the vote, he had been present at the government session to present the results of his analysis into mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. However, the session was interrupted and Kotlár rushed into the parliament to vote on Kaliňák's proposal. He was the only original MP from the SNS caucus to vote in favour; Dušan Muňko, whom Smer had 'loaned' to the SNS caucus last year to save it, also voted in favour.
Later, the government acknowledged Kotlár's report. In addition, Health Minister Kamil Šaško (Hlas) was tasked with forming a group made up of representatives of several health institutions to draft an expertise-based position and explore potential measures regarding Kotlár's report by July 31. Kotlár is required to cooperate.
Also, the the government extended his powers in implementing measures concerning the protection of data linked to pandemic measures and the analysis of vaccines, he is to cooperate in procurements of vaccines, carried out by the Health Ministry.
At the same time, a proposal to dismiss Gabriela Matečná (SNS) from the post of Environment Ministry's State Secretary appeared at the government session, which was approved. The ministry is now headed by minister Tomáš Taraba and secretaries Filip Kuffa and Štefan Kuffa, each an SNS nominee.
According to Sme daily, it is not known whether these events are related or not. Ministers did not say anything. Smer MPs say that SNS, headed by Andrej Danko, is now trying to find that topics that would increase the party's chances of getting into the parliament again. The party has been polling way below the 5 percent threshold since January 2024.
This dispute comes on the second day of the first parliamentary session after the months-long coalition crisis was resolved. Later last week, Andrej Danko said he was not happy with the resolution of the coalition crisis and that Smer should learn to treat its partner with respect. He also opined that Fico made a mistake in his handling of the rebellious MPs.
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TRAVEL: Poles flock to the Slovak part of the High Tatras thanks to a seasonal train. The last winter season proved to be very good, so it will return in summer.
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INTERVIEW
How quickly can sophistication disappear?
Jozef Tancer. (source: Jozef Jakubčo)
Jozef Tancer, Germanist and Comenius University International Relations Vice-Rector, says that people can very quickly lose their maturity, sophistication, language education, as well as the desire to travel and accept foreigners. He thinks that as an institution, the university does not do enough to express its position when something dangerous is happening in society. However, since he considers politics a topic that should not be lacking in academia, he talks about it with students using literature, remarkable language phenomena, even Immanuel Kant's theories, which are more relevant to other historical moments than when they were first conceived.
EVENT FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
Celebration of adventure
The Kriváň peak in the High Tatras. (source: TASR)
From today and until March 30, the Eurovea shopping centre in Bratislava is hosting the 25th edition of the Hory a Mesto (Mountains and the City) international movie and adventure festival. You can look forward to seeing a lot movies, talks with adventurers including Lucia Janičová, the first Slovak woman to climb Mt Everest, as well as photo exhibitions. Find out more about the programme, tickets, here.
IN OTHER NEWS
Hlas MP Richard Raši has become new Speaker of Parliament, with 79 MPs voting for him in a secret ballot. He needed at least 76 votes to be elected. The post was vacant since April 2024 when then speaker Peter Pellegrini was elected president. In the meantime, Deputy Speaker Peter Žiga (Hlas) became the acting speaker. Despite the coalition agreement stating the post belongs to Hlas, there was not an agreement among Smer, Hlas and SNS who to nominate, with the latter's chair Andrej Danko making demands for the post several times. (TASR)
During the Wednesday's roundtable talks initiated by President Peter Pellegrini regarding the increased spending on Slovakia's defence capabilities, both coalition and opposition parties rejected the deployment of Slovak soldiers to a possible future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. According to the president, party chairs also agreed on the need to strengthen NATO's European pillar and in case the US decides it no longer wants to be involved or wants to limit its presence, Slovakia must be part of a possible new independent European security model. Pellegrini also does not consider the reinstatement of compulsory military service to be the right approach. However, he does support the creation of voluntary brigades, and would join the training himself if the proposal currently in the house is approved. Opposition parties agree that there is a need to increase spending on defence. In this regard, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) has the ambition to come up with a proposal. Hlas chair Matúš Šutaj Eštok agrees that money needs to be invested in the Slovak army. (TASR)
Wednesday's roundtable talks regarding increased spending on security, which included party chairs, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer, third from left) and Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Army Daniel Zmeko (to Kaliňák's right). Party chairs in clockwise order from one o'clock: Branislav Gröhling (SaS), Milan Majerský (KDH), Michal Šimečka (Progressive Slovakia), Matúš Šutaj-Eštok (Hlas), Andrej Danko (SNS), Robert Fico (Smer), President Peter Pellegrini. (source: TASR)
The opposition Slovensko movement gathered 30 signatures required for a proposal for a no-confidence vote against Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) and submitted them on Wednesday. A special session should take place within seven days. The movements asks for his dismissal in connection to his failure to disclose a property in Croatia. (TASR)
All small border crossings between Slovakia and Hungary have been closed in connection to the foot-and-mouth disease. Disinfection frames will be placed at major border crossings such as Rajka, Medveďov, Komárno and Štúrovo, according to Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok. More frames are being bought at the moment. A limited regime will be put into place on the Slovak-Czech border as well as of Wednesday midnight. Lorries weighing more than 3.5 tonnes will be allowed to enter Czechia only via four crossings that will have frames installed. These are the Lanžhot – Brodské, Starý Hrozenkov – Drietoma, Bílá-Bumbálka – Makov, and Mosty u Jablunkova – Svrčinovec crossings. (TASR, ČTK)
According to the latest AKO poll, opposition Progressive Slovakia is still first with 21.7 percent, but its lead on the second coalition Smer with 21.2 percent has decreased, with the former losing 2.4 percentage points compared to the previous poll in February. However, Smer too lost 0.9 percentage point. Coalition Hlas ended up third with 12.3 percent, followed by KDH with 7.8, the Slovensko movement with 7.3, extremist Republika with 7 and SaS with 6.6 percent. Coalition SNS would not get into the parliament. (SME)
The annual migration of toads and frogs is taking place these days. In the picture are two European toads in the Sigord water reservoir in Prešov Region. Authorities are appealing to drivers to be mindful of the animals and be caregul when driving on roads where volunteers pick up the animals to help them migrate. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Partly cloudy, occasionally showers and snowing in higher altitudes. Daily temperatures will rise to between 14°C to 19°C. Level 1 wind warning issued for districts in south-eastern Slovakia for the day. (SHMÚ)
MARCH 27 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Alena
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