PS Criticises Simkovicova Over €23,000 Bill for Trencin Culture Capital 2026

Bratislava, 9 March (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has criticised Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) for a €23,000 bill in connection with her participation at the opening ceremony in Trencin held to mark the city becoming a European Capital of Culture 2026, TASR has reported based on information provided by Alec Borovy from PS's media department on Monday. While PS MP Dana Kleinert has urged the minister to pay the bill from her own money, the ministry has rejected the criticism, describing it as misleading attacks. Kleinert criticised Simkovicova's absence from ceremony events. "Minister Simkovicova spent the entire opening day in Trencin and only left on Sunday morning, but she didn't even step outside the hotel where she and her entourage were staying in the mayoral suite. All day long I had to answer questions asked by diplomats from partner countries about why the minister wasn't attending individual parts of the official programme," she said. She stated that the ministry's expenses included a morning reception costing more than €6,000 and a dinner costing €8,500 excl. VAT, adding that the dinner was served while the opening ceremony was taking place. According to Kleinert, the minister thus signalled that she's not interested in Slovak culture at all, while placing foreign partners in an awkward situation in terms of protocol. PS will request that the final invoices be made public, added Kleinert. Petra Demkova, head of the ministry's communications department, said in response it's unacceptable for professional cultural diplomacy to be exploited for "cheap political marketing". According to Demkova, the costs amounting to some €23,000 were reasonable given the importance of an international event. She stated that the dinner and reception at the Elizabeth Hotel were planned in advance to provide an opportunity for bilateral talks with diplomats from partner countries, adding that it's absurd for the opposition to criticise legitimate costs incurred in promoting Slovak culture. "The ministry considers the opposition's constant efforts to undermine Slovakia's interests abroad and portray our country in a negative light to be really embarrassing internationally. It's precisely the destructive rhetoric of opposition politicians that creates bad publicity for Slovakia among partners from the EU," said Demkova, adding that the ministry will continue to "present our culture as proud and hospitable". jrg/df