Illustrative stock photo (source: AP/SITA)
This is the Friday, November 27 edition of the Today in Slovakia daily news overview. If you want to support us, buy our online subscription and become a part of our efforts to bring reliable news from Slovakia in English.
For interesting weekend reads and tips for outings, take a look at our Spectacular Slovakia weekly roundup.
COVID vaccine hesitancy still high in Slovakia
While in September, only 23.5 percent of those polled said they would get vaccinated if possible, the rate has slightly increased at the turn of October and November, to 26.8 percent.
This stems from the How are you, Slovakia? survey conducted for the MNFORCE, Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Seesame agency, as reported by the TASR newswire.
Vaccine hesitancy directly correlates with trust in the government, the results of the poll show.
The Health Ministry is preparing for the distribution of the first vaccines, Minister Marek Krajčí said. The first batch will be administered to health care workers and other people who work in health care facilities.People working in critical infrastructure and seniors older than 65 will come next. Everyone else should get their turn in the spring of 2021, the infectologist estimated.
CROSSING BORDERS TO SLOVAKIA
From December 7, all those with exceptions will be required to provide a negative result for an antigen test, no older than two weeks.
Fico admitted he worked with Bödör
For the first time ever, Smer leader Robert Fico admitted to his contacts with Norbert Bödör, who is currently in custody over the Cattle Breeder scandal with agricultural subventions and whom the police believe to have been the head of an organised group of former police officials who used to interfere with the investigation of various cases and blackmailed entrepreneurs under Smer governments.
Fico said Bödör had been to the Smer headquarters, probably due to the organisation of some of the large events that his security firm secured for Smer.
Justice Ministry has drawn a new court map
The Justice Ministry has come forward with far-reaching changes to the court system in Slovakia that it says will help root out corruption in courts and improve the judiciary.
The Ministry has said the changes, which will see the number of courts drastically reduced, is aimed at breaking corruption chains at lower levels of the court system, improving the quality of rulings and speeding up the decision-making process, by allowing judges to specialise in a particular area.
Justice Minister Mária Kolíková said the changes are fundamental to raising the quality of Slovakia's judiciary.
“We can expect rulings to be delivered faster and to be of better quality,” Kolíková told local media as she presented her proposal on November 23.
Picture of the day
Slovakia's Petra Vlhová won the women's World Cup parallel giant slalom in Lech/Zuers, Austria. (source: TASR)
In other news
As of Friday, outdoor terraces in restaurants must follow new guidelines from the Public Health Authority. An outdoor terrace must have at least one side without a barrier. Restaurants are not allowed to serve guests indoors due to the anti-pandemic measures.
Coalition leaders will meet in the home of Sme Rodina Chairman Boris Kollár to discuss the general prosecutor election, scheduled to take place in parliament on Tuesday, December 1. (SITA)
MPs of the ruling coalition refused to acknowledge the reports about the activities of the General Prosecutor's Office and the Special Prosecutor's Office in parliament on Friday. SaS MP Ondrej Dostal said it was a political gesture, to point to the serious suspicions that some, including high-ranking, prosecutors are facing.
Featured story
Anca Dragu on the proposed migration policy:
When I read the 16-page document called “The Migration Policy of the Slovak Republic Until 2025” last night, I thought of a powerful quote to use in the opening of this text.
The document is undergoing an interdepartmental review at the moment – meaning various stakeholders in the area of migration can comment on the text drafted by the Interior Ministry before it is submitted to the cabinet. Don’t rush to look for it, because it is not available in foreign languages, and I can bet no foreigner was involved in designing it.
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