News digest: Police discriminated against Slovak-Argentinian gay couple, court rules – The Slovak Spectator
One day off, Slovak scientist Silvia Pastoreková, regional and municipal elections.
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Good evening. The Monday, October 31 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Do not forget that November 1 is a holiday in Slovakia. Shops will be closed.
Historic verdict can help more same-sex couples
A recent verdict that helps a Slovak-Argentinian same-sex couple is seen as groundbreaking. (Source: Stanley Dai/Unsplash)A same-sex couple wedded abroad has the same right to be granted permanent residence as applicable to married couples in Slovakia, the Regional Court in Žilina ruled in what lawyers view as a groundbreaking verdict.
The verdict concerns Slovak citizen Jakub Šanko de Ruiz and his Argentinian partner Mariano Ruiz de Šanko.
LGBT+ activist and lawyer, Lucia Plaváková of the Progressive Slovakia party, described the court’s decision as a foundation for change. Slovakia does not recognise same-sex marriages or partnerships.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
- Opposition: The former state secretary at the Foreign Ministry, Martin Klus, decided to leave the SaS parliamentary caucus.
- Referendums: Two closely-followed local referendums took place last Saturday in central Slovakia, in Varín and in Sliač. Neither of them is valid.
- Elections: Matúš Vallo was reelected to the mayoral post in Bratislava. Most regional governors were reelected last Saturday as well. You can find the main takeaways from the recent elections here.
For a deeper insight into current affairs, check out our Last Week in Slovakia piece published earlier today. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY
Slovak oncologist’s research is used all around the world
This year’s ESET Science Award laureats. Silvia Pastoreková is in the middle. (Source: ESET/Linda Kisková Bohušová)Silvia Pastoreková was part of the team that discovered a protein on the surface of tumour cells. In 2022, she became the ESET Science Award laureate.
Learn more about the achievements of Slovak science in the latest Slovak Science newsletter.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
- Municipal elections will take place again in 47 municipalitiesbecause there was no vote last Saturday, no mayor was elected, or people did not elect the required number of councillors. The elections will be held again, for example, in Miková, a town where Andy Warhol’s parents come from.
- 1,349 municipalities (46.5 percent) will be run by mayors who are not members of any political party.
- The Christian Democratic Movement will have 2,276 elected local councillors, the highest number of all political parties. Hlas will have the highest number of elected mayors, 649.
- In the recent regional elections, 204,000 ballots were invalid. In 2017, more than 46,000 ballots were invalid. (SME)
The Slávičie Údolie cemetery in Bratislava on October 31, 2022. (Source: TASR – Miroslav Košírer)- The Slovak parliament did not face a cyber attack last week, which Speaker Boris Kollár (Sme Rodina) initially claimed to be the case. It was a technical problem, but remains unclear if it was an accident or an intended action. (SME)
- Banks in Slovakia achieved a net profit of €571.9 million from January to September. In a year-on-year comparison, this is an increase of 0.5 percent, data from the National Bank of Slovakia shows. (SITA)
- Paternity leave will be introduced from November. Both the mother and father of a child will be able to receive the maternity benefit simultaneously for two weeks within a period of six weeks from the birth of their child.
- 17,420 Ukrainian refugees entered Slovakia from October 24 to 30, the Interior Ministry reported.
- President Zuzana Čaputová has allowed six Slovaks to join a foreign army since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.