Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, April 25edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Fico meets ambassadors to Slovakia
Ambassadors to Slovakia meet with Smer representatives on April 24, 2023. (source: Facebook/Smer)
Smer leader and former prime minister Robert Fico met with ambassadors to Slovakia on Monday, April 24, to talk of different issues. However, the war conflict in Ukraine dominated the debate.
Fico refused to accept Ukraine as a NATO member, but he does not oppose to its EU membership. He continues to be against the supplies of weapons to Ukraine.
Ambassadors stressed they stand by Ukraine, also militarily.
"Aligning with Putin is appeasement, no different than the appeasement offered to Hitler," US Ambassador Gautam Rana said after the meeting.
Fico, whose party dominates the polls ahead of the September elections, is seen as a politician with pro-Russian views.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Politics: Russian embassy in Slovakia paid for the restoration of a WWI cemetery, but the instead.
Business:Industrial and logistics sector records strong 2022.
Travel: A yellow American school bus drives around central Slovakia.
Opinion: It is World Immunisation Week. How to deal with vaccine hesitancy?
Advertorial: Each place has its own specifics and some history that we mustn't forget, Bencont Group Manager Martin Šimurda says about inspirations behind the developer's residential projects.
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PODCAST FOR TUESDAY
"There wasn't an option, really"
Foreigners in Bratislava is a popular Facebook group created by Scotsman John Boyd. (source: Pexels)
Jeremy Hill talks to a group of foreigners about organising efforts that improve the lives of migrants and their descendents. One of the guests is Scotsman John Boyd, founder of the Foreigners in Bratislava Facebook group.
"Bratislava becomes a second home to those who leave it, or a permanent home to those who never leave," he says in the Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky podcast.
EVENT FOR THE WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK
Košice City Days
Košice City Days will kick off this Friday. (source: SME-Marko Erd)
The city of Košice will organise the City Days event from April 28 until May 7. People can look forward to 24 events. One of them will be the celebrations with Košice ice-hockey players on Friday. They have recently won a Slovak trophy.
You can find a bulletin about the event here (in Slovak).
In other news
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović sent a critical letter to Speaker Boris Kollár and two MPs, calling on Slovakia to do more for LGBT+ people. In the letter she wrote, "I am disappointed that no discernible progress has been made, and that the human rights of LGBTI people in the Slovak Republic appear to be more, rather than less, at risk."
The nationwide vaccination rate of children born in 2020 in the basic vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella has fallen below the 95 percent threshold. It does not reach the level that ensures collective immunity at the national level, said chief hygienist Ján Mikas.
Punch Precision Detva, a daughter company of the Belgian company Punch Corporation NV, has closed down its plant in Detva, central Slovakia. A total of 120 lost the job. The firm produced aluminium forgings and chassis components.
Adult travellers must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before entering the USA. A negative test result is not necessary, the Slovak Foreign Ministry said.
The Public Health Office will consider cancelling the decree on face coverings in the event that the incidence of acute respiratory diseases decreases throughout Slovakia. Respirators are mandatory in pharmacies and in health or social care facilities.
The Sĺňava water reservoir in Piešťany, western Slovakia. (source: Facebook/Slovenský Vodohospodársky Podnik company)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: In the morning, patchy showers or rain in some parts of eastern and northern Slovakia. The daytime temperature will range from 10°C to 15°C. Strong breeze. Frost warnings in place for central Slovakia and parts of eastern and western Slovakia. (SHMÚ)
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