MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, August 12): BRATISLAVA - Thousands of people gathered in Bratislava on Monday afternoon to protest against recent moves by the Culture Ministry, with the crowd stopping in front of the Slovak National Theatre and the building of the Culture Ministry in the city centre. According to the organisers, the rally was attended by some 9,000 people. The protest was held in response to Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova's (an SNS nominee) dismissals of Slovak National Theatre head Matej Drlicka and Slovak National Gallery head Alexandra Kusa last week. The organisers, a civic culture-focused platforms and several organisations, demanded that Simkovicova and general secretary of the Culture Ministry's service office Lukas Machala should either step down or be dismissed, as well as that their mistakes should be rectified. Both Kusa and Drlicka attended the rally, with the former claiming that the two of them want their former posts to be occupied by competent individuals, which is why they took part in the protest. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini has said that he's set to meet Premier Robert Fico, ministers and leaders of political parties, including opposition ones, to discuss current issues, doing so in reaction to the opposition's calls on him on Monday. The president declared that he closely follows political events and his actions always follow the interests and needs of the public. "Not the interests of political parties," he remarked. Earlier in the day, the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party called on Pellegrini to comment on the situation in culture. The Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party did the same, asking the president to meet SaS representatives to discuss current issues, such as problems concerning health care, recent dismissals of the heads of the national gallery and theatre, and Justice Minister Boris Susko's (Smer-SD) decision to release former special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik from prison. PARIS - As the 28-member Slovak athletic team won only a single medal at the recent Olympic Games in Paris, the Olympics were a disappointment for Slovak sport and solutions to the problem need to be sought in the long term, secretary-general of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee Jozef Liba has said. According to Liba, several moves need to be done to improve the situation concerning sport in Slovakia. The secretary-general noted that sport should be a natural choice for children and young people. "Because sport has slowly become something that we perceive only very, very marginally in Slovakia. We will have to set up a meeting at the Sport and Tourism Ministry with individual associations and look for options regarding how to prepare not only for the next Olympic cycle and Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but also in Brisbane. Short-term solutions won't help us exactly. We need to look for solutions in the long term. Not to mention the state of winter sports in Slovakia," he said. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia has the opportunity to join the German purchase of Leopard 2A8 tanks, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak has announced in a video he posted on a social network. Defence Ministry's spokesman Tomas Kostelnik has told TASR that acquisition of Leopard tanks would be a logical step, adding that the ministry is checking all possibilities. BRATISLAVA - The National Highway Company (NDS) on Monday announced a tender for the Turany-Hubova stretch (Zilina region) of the D1 motorway section, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) told a news conference on the same day. This is the final section of the D1 motorway between Bratislava and Kosice where construction hasn't yet been launched. The cost of its construction is estimated at €1.473 billion. The construction of the last missing, some 14-kilometre-long section will include two tunnels at a total length of almost 8.5 kilometres. The expected value of the order is €1.473 billion (ex-VAT). The tender winner must ensure the complete construction of the section, including both tunnels, 11 bridges, two intersections and a new highway administration and maintenance centre that will maintain this D1 motorway section. zel