Opposition Slams Culture Minister Simkovicova for Her Trip to USA

Bratislava, 24 September (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is calling on Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) to return to the ministry the money she's spent on her trip to the United States, the party leaders told a press conference held by opposition parties on Wednesday. According to the opposition 'Slovakia' party, which also attended the press conference, the ministry spent the money inefficiently. "This cardboard cut-out of a culture minister has absolutely no interest in culture and ignores it blatantly. Instead of supporting culture, Simkovicova took a family trip at the expense of taxpayers. The ministry refuses to publish her agenda and refuses to disclose what she's actually doing there. This is such arrogance of power that even the president [Peter Pellegrini] could no longer remain silent and clearly asked [SNS leader] Andrej Danko to explain what she's actually doing in the USA," said Rene Parak of SaS. Former culture minister Natalia Milanova criticised Simkovicova for having gone on other such trips in the past. "The ministry paid €20,000 for the flight tickets alone during a consolidation period. This is an outrageous amount at a time when the finance minister is taking great pains to defend the consolidation effort," said Milanova. Minister Simkovicova wrote on social media that she took part in the 47th Slovak Heritage Festival in New Jersey on Sunday (21 September), which was also attended by President Pellegrini as part of his official visit to the United States. Last Friday (19 September), the Stop Corruption Foundation reported via social media that the Culture Ministry had booked flights to New York for Minister Simkovicova and the ministry's head of communications, Petra Demkova. According to the foundation, the tickets cost the ministry nearly €16,000. jrg/df