News digest: Legendary Miletička marketplace prepares for refurbishment

Maria Theresa was born 305 years ago today, Kaliňák has been released from custody, and Friday the 13th is no more dangerous than a regular Friday (phew!).

(Source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)

Good afternoon. Here is a quick summary of the main news of the day in our Friday, May 13, 2022 edition of Today in Slovakia. Get up to date in less than 5 minutes.

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Legendary marketplace Miletička prepares for refurbishment

The well-known Bratislava open-air marketplace Trhovisko Miletičová, or just Miletička, is an iconic place for many Bratislavans. They associate it in particular with Saturday shopping for fruit and vegetables from local sellers. A revitalisation of this legendary marketplace, which has been in continuous operation for more than 50 years, is planned in the near future. So before that happens, the Bratislava Metropolitan Institute (MIB) has been finding out how people perceive it and what they expect from it.

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The survey showed that people regard the biggest problem with the marketplace, which is located in the borough of Ružinov, close to the city centre, as being its unsatisfactory technical condition and hygiene.

“At the same time, we perceive that Bratislavans care about Miletička,” said Milota Sidorová, director of the Urban Studies Section at MIB. “We have seen it repeatedly confirmed that the greatest value of Miletička is its atmosphere."


War in Ukraine

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová to Ukraine during their telephone call on Thursday, May 12. They discussed Ukraine’s progress in obtaining candidate status for EU membership, sanctions against Russia, and fuel imports from Slovakia. Zelensky thanked the Slovak president for the humanitarian and defence aid that is being provided by Slovakia.
  • A total of 2,901 people from Ukraine entered Slovakia via the Slovak-Ukrainian border on Thursday, May 12, of which 1,635 were women, 494 children and 722 men. Of these, 219 applied for temporary refuge in the country. At the same time, 2,877 people crossed into Ukraine through the same border on the same day. Since the start of the war, Slovakia has processed 418,681 refugees from Ukraine, of whom 75,592 have been granted temporary refuge in Slovakia, the Interior Ministry reported.
  • The public-service broadcaster RTVS will start radio broadcasts in Ukrainian from next Monday, May 16. The broadcasts will target primarily refugees from Ukraine who are currently in Slovakia. A show in Ukrainian language will be broadcast every Monday from 18:40 on Radio Regina.

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Photo of the day

One of the ponds at the popular Železná Studnička recreational area in Bratislava now has a new set of wooden stairs that provides visitors with waterside seating as well as the opportunity to access the water itself.


Today's feature story

Bratislava City Council wants the long tradition of vine cultivation and winemaking in the city to continue. As a result, they have decided to rent out vacant municipal vineyards. The capital owns and manages approximately 15.5 hectares of vineyards, of which eight hectares do not currently have any tenant; a significant proportion of these have fallen into a state of neglect.

However, the tenders promulgated in late 2021 attracted only one new tenant, Marek Kopriva, who wants to create a community vineyard together with his friends. The city council has now eased the conditions for future tenders.

Do you want to grow grapes? Bratislava offers municipal vineyards for rent Read more 

Anniversary of the week

Maria Theresa (May 13, 1717 – November 29, 1780) was one of the most important rulers in European history. She is known as the mother of the nation, as she had 16 children, but also as the mother-in-law of Europe because, through the marriages of her children, she gained allies across Europe and solved foreign policy problems. She was crowned monarch of Hungary in Pressburg (now known as Bratislava) on June 25, 1741.

Her reign lasted 40 years, from 1740 to 1780. After a turbulent period at the beginning of her rule, the Habsburg Monarchy entered a golden age. In the areas of state administration and foreign policy, Maria Theresa, the daughter of Charles VI, enacted measures that were to have a decisive influence on the further development of the monarchy. Although she had a somewhat sceptical attitude towards the ideals of the Enlightenment, her era is seen as a period of reform during which the Habsburg lands underwent a process of distinct modernisation.


In other news

  • Friday the 13th is no more harmful than a regular Friday, claims the insurance company Allianz-Slovenská Poisťovna, citing its own statistics. However, more damage does tend to occur on Fridays than on other days. The insurer has registered 649 claims on average on Friday the 13th during the last three years, compared to 687 claims registered on normal Fridays. In 2022, there will be only one Friday the 13th, today.
  • The Supreme Court has released former interior minister Robert Kaliňák from pretrial custody. "The Supreme Court senate considers the criminal prosecution as founded on all points that he is charged with," Supreme Court spokesperson Alexandra Važanová said, as quoted by the SITA newswire. Yet the senate saw no reason for pretrial custody on the grounds cited by prosecutors, i.e. that Kaliňák might attempt to influence witnesses.
  • On Thursday, May 12, the National Crime Agency (NAKA), in cooperation with international security forces, detained and remanded in custody a 22-year-old right-wing extremist of Slovak origin. He went by the online nickname ‘Slovakbro’, the police reported on its FB profile.
  • If Slovakia fails to pay for Russian gas in rubles, as Moscow has demanded, Russia will not stop supplying gas to us, Economy Ministry State Secretary Karol Galek said, citing a letter that Slovakia received from Russia on Thursday last week. Slovakia’s next payment for Russian natural gas supplies is due on May 20. “The letter basically says that if the bank is not able to make the transaction, the gas flow will be maintained, and thus the euros received will be considered as payment,” said Galek.
  • Slovakia experienced its first "tropical" day of the year on Thursday, May 12. At dozens of stations of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius, which is defined as "tropical". The affected stations were mainly located in the Dunajská Nížina lowland and the Juhoslovenská Kotlina basin in southern Slovakia. Even in the north, in the mountainous areas below the Tatras, it was very warm; the temperature rose to 25 degrees Celsius there, making it a "summer" day.
  • Bratislava continues to fight against mosquito larvae with an environmentally-friendly biocide called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI). From the beginning of May, environmental officers intervened at dozens of breeding sites in the boroughs of Rusovce, Dúbravka, Devínská Nová Ves, Jarovce, Devín and Čunovo covering more than 20,000 square metres. Thanks to this, the hatching of millions of mosquitoes was prevented in May alone.
  • The year-on-year inflation rate rose in April to 11.8 percent, the highest level recorded since June 2000. Inflation continues to be propelled mainly by rising food prices, fuel prices and energy bills, the Statistics Office reported. Slovenská Sporiteľňa, one of the main banks, expects inflation to peak in the next few months and estimates that inflation during the whole of 2022 will be 9.8 percent.

Do not miss on Spectator.sk:

Slovakia coach Ramsay: I'm nervous as always Read more  Weekend: Top 3 Saturday events Read more  What does it mean to be homesick in Slovakia? Read more  Getting an idea of former life on the Slovak and Austrian sides of the Iron Curtain Read more  Hundreds head to little-known Brdárka in May Read more  Computer scientist explains how robots see and translators translate Read more 

If you have any suggestions for how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

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