Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, January 8 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
After Moscow trip, number of PM Fico's followers rose
Robert Fico in Kremlin, waiting to meet Vladimir Putin on his own. (source: TASR/AP )
When it comes to social media, two of the most popular platforms, Facebook and Instagram, show a clear distinction in terms of popularity of politicians. While on Facebook it is coalition politicians who are popular, on Instagram it is opposition representatives, reports Sme daily.
The most popular - in terms of the total number of likes, shares and comments - remains PM Robert Fico (Smer) whose posts garnered 4.66 million interactions, followed by extremist Republika chair Milan Uhrík with 2.22 million interactions. Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas) hit almost 2 million.
Only two opposition politicians made it to top 10, both are from Progressive Slovakia (PS); unsuccessful presidential candidate Ivan Korčok and party chair Michal Šimečka ranked 7th and 8th with 1.29 million and 1.12 million interactions, respectively.
According to the analysis, due to algorithms on Facebook it is usually posts containing expressive and hateful vocabulary that fare better.
Also, the top 3 political posts are all Fico's: his first public appearance after the assassination attempt at his life, his photo with a Christmas tree and his Picture with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The last one garnered more than 90,000 interactions and caused a rather sharp increase of the number of his followers. In the three weeks after the December 23 meeting, the number increased by about 5,000.
On the other hand, opposition politicians dominate Instagram. The most popular is Ivan Korčok, who garnered 4.47 million interactions, almost the same as the PM on Facebook. Robert Fico ranked 11th on Instagram.
PS chair Michal Šimečka placed 2nd, followed by SaS MP Vladimíra Marcinková. Former coalition Hlas chair and now President Peter Pellegrini placed 4th. Actually, PS has six politicians in the ranking, out of which three are MEPs. Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo ranked 7th with 0.46 million interactions, while SaS chair Branislav Gröhling placed 8th with 0.44 million.
MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE
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TRAVEL: To mitigate flooding, help with fires and attract tourists. A dam is to be built in popular tourist area.
HOUSING: Bratislava's older flats see first major price hike in a year.
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FEATURE STORY
Oldest philosophical texts translated to Slovak for first time
According to Róbert Gáfrik who translated the Upanishads to Slovak, India has a tremendous cultural and spiritual heritage. (source: TASR)
For thousands of years, humanity has been trying to understand the universe and its place in it; the mystery had been tackled already in ancient India. The Upanishads are the oldest preserved philosophical texts of mankind. Their origin goes back deeper than the works of ancient Greek philosophy. Now, for the first time, they have been translated into Slovak.
EVENT FOR THE WEEKEND
Bird hour is back
Illustrative image of a Great tit. (source: TASR)
After the success of the first edition of Vtáčia Hodinka (Bird Hour), this weekend the citizen science project will take place once again. If you don't know, Vtáčia Hodinka allows for the general public interested in watching birds and their well-being to help with counting and gathering data on the feathered animals.
All it takes is spending one hour in a single place, be it garden, park or forest, ideally watching a bird feeder and counting birds. For more details, forms, tips and tricks, and how to participate, click here.
IN OTHER NEWS
Almost 12 percent of Slovaks cannot afford to go skiing, with women, people aged 34-49 and residents of Nitra, Košice Regions and of Hungarian nationality predominantly in the group. In addition, 64.4 percent do not take part in the activity, according to a new survey carried out in December on a sample of 1,000 people by the AKO agency for private TV Joj 24. Of the 22.2 percent that go skiing, 79.4 percent do so only for one day,8.3 percent ski for two to four days and 7.1 percent ski up to seven days. (Joj 24)
The town of Ružomberok, northern Slovakia, warns people against an SMS scam regarding parking, with two cases reported so far. Upon tapping on a link in the message, user is redirected to a page that looks like an Interior Ministry page, claiming they had to pay a fine of €30. The town warns that this is probably a phishing attack, an attempt to gain access to private information and urges people not to pay anything as fines for parking are paid neither via SMS messages nor an Interior Ministry website. (Ružomberok)
Opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS), KDH and SaS announced that they are initiating a special House session aimed at confirming Slovakia's foreign anchoring in the EU and NATO, calling on MPs from both sides to back the resolution and show they don't support a shift in the course of foreign policy eastwards, as pursued by Premier Robert Fico (Smer). "The PM is preparing the ground to lead Slovakia out of Europe," warned PS chair Michal Simecka, adding that the PM has no mandate to change the course of Slovakia's foreign-political orientation. Fico earlier said that he wants to propose that the top constitutional officials and chairs of the coalition parties should state a position that will define the content and quality of Slovakia's foreign policy and guiding principles. Coalition SNS supports Fico in this regard. (TASR)
Interpol lists 54 Slovak nationals among missing persons, including two underage girls, as well as businessman Ladislav Matovič who has been missing since 2005 and journalist Pavol Rýpal who disappeared in 2008. (Interpol)
The Slovak Ice-Hockey Association has officially submitted its candidacy to host the 2029 World Championship, once again proposing Bratislava and Košice as the venues for the event. In the coming months, the association will focus on preparing a detailed presentation of the candidacy. In 2029, it will have been 100 years since ice-hockey has become organised in the country. (TASR)
Last year's general government deficit might reach €7.617 billion, or 5.8 percent of GDP, according to the latest, December estimate of the Budgetary Responsibility Council. This estimate is 0.2 percentage points better than the approved budget for 2024, but it's 0.6 percentage points higher year-on-year. (TASR)
The winter landscape near the Lysá ski resort in the Sabinov district, eastern Slovakia. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Cloudy to overcast skies, rain in some places expected, snowing in higher altitudes. Daily temperatures will rise to between 4 °C to 9 °C, and up to 11 °C in southern Slovakia. Level 1 wind warning on mountains in districts around the High Tatras and Low Tatras. (SHMÚ)
JANUARY 9 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Alexej
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