Good evening. Here is the Monday, December 9 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Solution for health care still not in sight
The Univeristy Hospital in Bratislava. (source: sita)
In order to avoid more than 3,300 doctors walking away at the end of the year, Health Minister Kamil Šaško (Hlas) presented a proposal and on Sunday the government approved it.
A new concept of 'critical health care shortage' is to be added to the list of extraordinary events in healthcare, along with the obligation for health professionals to provide care during such time. When declared, it will last 60 days and could be extended once.
This means that should a health care professional decide to not work when such a situation has been declared, they will be threatened with imprisonment for one year.
The bill still has to be approved by the parliament in fast-track procedure.
According to Šaško, the situation will be declared in 12 districts, but no further details were provided. Several constitutional lawyers worked on the proposal; the minister says that the mass resignations will lead to a potential threat to people's lives and health, and thus a threat to fundamental human rights.
What is happening: In 2022, a memorandum promising salary increases every year by 9.7 percent for doctors was negotiated and embraced by politicians across the political spectrum. However, it has been shelved by the fourth Robert Fico administration, which cut this to 3 percent amid fiscal tightening. Even though Šaško secured an additional €100m, raising this year's increase to 6.4 percent, doctors are holding firm to the original figure. In addition, they also hope to prevent hospitals from being transformed into joint-stock companies, support the establishment of a national hospital in Bratislava's Rázsochy locality instead of Ružinov, want to increase the number of nurses, and other system changes.
Šaško claims that 90 percent of their demands have either been met, are being met, including the transformation.
Reactions: Peter Visolajský, head of the Doctors' Trade Union Association (LOZ), said that the government is not willing to seek solutions, but instead tries to impose forced labour on those demanding the solutions. According to him, all the government needs to do is start honouring agreements. He also warned that this will not work.
Opposition lambasted the minister's proposal. The KDH party said that this move is bringing Slovakia closer to dictatorship, and will drive more doctors and nurses from the country. Progressive Slovakia criticised that PM Robert Fico (Smer) himself has yet to talk with doctors. The latter has repeatedly stated that this is not on his agenda.
On the other hand, Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said that it is time for LOZ to stop "their blackmail". Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS nominee) called the solution "elegant".
Related: Out of 480 resignations filed by Bratislava's University Hospital doctors, 37 have withdrawn them.
MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE
LAST WEEK: How the Russians played the Slovak foreign minister.
TREATING YOURSELVES: Communism had to end for Bratislava's café scene to thrive again. In addition, there are much-loved ice-cream shops in the city.
HISTORY: Last week, an unusual CT scan was carried out in Rimavská Sobota hospital. The patient was a 3,000-year old mummy.
WASTE: With textile collection being obligatory as of January, muncipalities are looking for ways how to do it.
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FEATURE STORY
Bratislava in for real estate business of century
The Winter Port in Bratislava. (source: SME/Marko Erd)
If everything goes as presented by Transport Minister Jozef Ráž (Smer) and Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo, the capital city can get ready for one of the biggest real estate "battles" in history.
Plots of land in the Zimný Prístav (Winter Port, located between the Most Apollo and Prístavný Most bridges - Ed. note) will be for sale. It will not be an ordinary sale of land; the lands will allow for a significantly easier way for the potential real estate projects of interested parties in the area to also be attractive.
EVENT FOR WEDNESDAY
Final concert of the 2024 One Day Jazz Festival
The newly reconstructed Divadlo Aréna theatre in Bratislava will play host to the concert of the last bassist Prince hired before his passing. Dywane Eric Thomas Jr., also known as MonoNeon, is a bassist, experimental musician, singer and songwriter. After his funk and soul performance, there will be a Christmas afterparty. Find out more here.
IN OTHER NEWS
Speaking on public broadcaster STVR's political show Sobotné Dialógy on Saturday, PM Robert Fico (Smer) said that Ukraine is in for a "nice Munich", referring to the Munich Agreement of 1938, which allowed for the Nazi Germany to annex the part of Czechoslovakia called Sudetenland in which mainly ethnic Germans lived. The PM believes that Russia will get to keep the Ukrainian territories it has captured during the war. In regards to potential early elections, to which he made a fleeting reference on the party's congress on November 17, the PM said that the prognosis for them to occur in 2025 is zero. (TASR, SME)
Invited by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, PM Robert Fico, together with Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák, Economy Minister Denisa Saková and Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár, left for a several-day official visit to the country. The goal is to deepen Slovak-Brazilian relations and mutual economic cooperation. Several bilateral agreements are expected to be signed. This is the first ever visit by a Slovak premier to Brazil and the South American region. (TASR)
Hikers at the frozen Štrbské Pleso mountain lake during the weekend. (source: TASR)
On Monday, President Peter Pellegrini met with Pope Francis, who conveyed a message for Slovaks. According to Pellegrini, the pope told him about the importance of helping one another and emphasised that we can only look down on others when we bend down to help them. The pope gave the Slovak president a gift symbolising this. "I wish we all would take this idea to heart. Let's be kind and supportive to each other, respect each other, stop arguing, and never elevate ourselves above others just because they were born different," Pellegrini said in a post on social media. (Facebook)
The police have seized dispensers with products containing HHC, a type of psychoactive substance, all over Slovakia, announced Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas). According to him, these were available in shopping centres, allowing children to get hold of these products. "Once a substance is considered a drug, addictive and harmful to health, it will have no place in our society," the minister said, adding that the fight against drugs will continue. As part of this, seven raids in Bratislava clubs have already taken place in 2024, with the minister promising more to come even in schools. (SITA)
Former president Andrej Kiska has filed a lawsuit against the President's Office for terminating his life-long salary following his conviction for tax fraud in October. Kiska criticised the fact that he was not officially informed about the termination of his salary directly by the President's Office, but learnt about it through the media two weeks in advance. He also noted that the cancellation of his salary based on a newly adopted law was retroactive. (TASR)
WEATHER FOR TUESDAY: Mostly overcast skies, occasionally foggy. In many places showers and rain expected, and snowing above 500 metres in altitude. Daily temperatures -1 °C to 6 °C. (SHMÚ)
DECEMBER 10 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Radúz
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