MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, May 6): BRATISLAVA - Slovakia will be represented at Tuesday's inauguration of re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow by its chargé d'affaires, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has reported. "The Slovak Republic is aware of the complexity of the situation, but is nevertheless opposed to the creation of a new Iron Curtain, and this attitude is also confirmed by those European countries that are sending their diplomatic representatives to the inauguration," said the ministry's press department. Putin will take the presidential oath in the Kremlin on May 7, assuming the presidential office for the fifth time. BRATISLAVA - Outpatient pediatric emergency departments might have their opening hours shortened as of July 1 from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., via legislation unveiled by Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD) on Monday. In addition, the bill proposes that regular pediatric practice should be available to patients every working day each week and at least one day until 6 p.m. Dolinkova added that the House Health Committee is expected to discuss the motion on Tuesday (May 18) and subsequently forward it to Parliament. The minister announced that she had explained to representatives of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) as well as mayors of all affected towns the reasons behind the consolidation of the pediatric outpatient emergency departments. "They understand it and I trust that they'll explain it to parents and inhabitants, too," she said, adding that the aim of the measures is to ensure access to health care for children across the whole of Slovakia until a new generation of pediatrists comes into the system. ZMOS President Jozef Bozik underlined that neither the ZMOS nor the mayors like the consolidation. "On the other hand, as rational people, we heard clearly the arguments [...] that we're saving the system of outpatient emergency departments for children from collapse," he claimed. PEZINOK - The Specialised Criminal Court on Monday approved a plea bargain between a prosecutor and entrepreneur Michal Suchoba, who's been charged with bribery, fining him €90,000. Suchoba's crime was related to the criminal case known as Purgatory. Should he fail to pay the fine, he'll have to spend six months in prison. Suchoba allegedly bribed an individual identified as Ludovit M. with a sum of €70,000 in the summer of 2018, paying him in connection with seized cash registers. The prosecutor and Suchoba concluded the plea bargain in March 2024. OCOVA - The State Environmental Protection's (SOP) intervention team recorded the presence of brown bear in the village of Ocova (Banska Bystrica region), TASR learnt from SOP's spokesperson Kristina Bockova on Monday. According to the video available, the bear in question is about three years old. The team will consult the issue with the local hunters association and, based on their result, propose the next course of action. "The village has warned its inhabitants and visitors to exercise increased caution, particularly in late evening and early morning hours," added Bockova. DETVA - Slovakia has the third best conditions within the entire EU for growing agricultural crops, yet it is one of the EU states least self-sufficient in terms of food production, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee) said after his meeting with local food producers in Detva (Banska Bystrica region) on Monday. Taraba added that over 200,000 hectares of agricultural land have disappeared for no other reason but the presence of scrub. He declared that scrubland harms biodiversity and acquiring a permit for its removal can take more than three years in Slovakia. "Because of this, we've prepared changes to enable the cleansing of Slovakia's agricultural land in a fast-track procedure," he stated. Another benefit, in his view, is that such cleansing would decrease the number of dangerous bear encounters preventively. An environmental organisation called Ursia pointed out in response that the bill should distinguish between reasons for removing scrub. "We need trees for birds to fly over, so that they also have places to nest. We need corridors for the animals, we can't have just hills shaved smooth and without any connection to each other," underlined Jana Jankovicova of Ursia. BRATISLAVA - The Police Corps Presidium rejected criticism by opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, according to which it's about to render the environmental police dysfunctional, and claimed that the aim of the reorganisation is to streamline the police structure, TASR was told by Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Michal Slivka on Monday. "The long-planned reorganisation of the Police Corps was preceded by a comprehensive analysis and cooperation with the Interior Ministry's department of European programmes, the National Implementation and Coordination Authority of the Government Office and the European Commission, seeing as these processes are tied to the Recover Plan. We're approaching the reorganisation quite sensitively," claimed Slivka, adding that the drawing of EU money under the Recovery Plan won't be put into jeopardy. am