Hello. Welcome to Today in Slovakia — where a reindeer’s been stolen, Smer’s targeting the Christian Democrats, and Slovakia’s culture scene is taking yet another beating.

Move over, Grinch — Rudolph’s gone missing. Two thieves in Levice, southern Slovakia, swiped a €59 decorative reindeer from Möbelix. A local resident posted a mock “wanted” notice in a Facebook group: “We declare a search for Rudolf, kidnapped on 31 October.”

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The internet loved it. So did Möbelix — which turned the theft into an ad reading: “Buy before it’s stolen.”

Police might not bother. Since 2024, theft in Slovakia only counts as a crime if the damage tops €700. Below that? Just a fine. Security guards say shoplifters know the rule — and keep their loot cheap.

And while some are amused by the missing reindeer, the ruling party Smer is busy finding new ways to win Christians over. 

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Fico takes aim at the faithful 

Prime Minister Robert Fico (source: TASR)

Who’s the sinner now? Prime Minister Robert Fico has found a new enemy — the Christian Democrats (KDH). After KDH, an opposition party, ruled out ever joining a Smer-led government, the prime minister’s party accused them on Thursday of “choosing liberals over values” and mocked the move as a betrayal of Slovakia’s Christian roots.

Holy irony. In a statement dripping with sarcasm, Smer said it was “good that conservative voters now know how KDH thinks about Slovakia’s future” — adding that the party won’t get far “in the deadly embrace of liberals and progressives”.

Media penance. The jabs came after Fico, leading Smer, lashed out at the conservative outlet Postoj, which he tied to KDH — revealing his real mission: to break the movement and steal its flock.

Lunch with the liberals. KDH leader Milan Majerský brushed off the attack, saying his party’s aim is to “democratically replace Robert Fico” and fix a government that “destroys people’s lives”. On Tuesday, Majerský lunched with Progressive Slovakia, SaS and the Democrats to hash out shared priorities — a photo-op Smer gleefully framed as proof that KDH has gone soft on the liberals.

Selective memory. Just weeks ago, KDH helped Smer pass a constitutional amendment defining “two sexes” — now conveniently erased from Fico’s sermon. On Facebook, Smer jeered: “Can’t wait to see KDH deal with conscience clauses alongside the progressives — that’ll be fun!” Fico had dangled the issue in September; by October, his MPs quietly shelved it. 

Preaching from Smer. Smer MP Tibor Gašpar sneered that Majerský hadn’t learned from ex-KDH boss Alojz Hlina — now an MP with the liberal SaS. He went further, pointing to this week’s opposition lunch: “I don’t buy your Christianity. Sitting with people who back abortion and same-sex marriage is miles from faith.” Gašpar’s kicker? Smer, he claimed, now stands closer to “traditional values” than KDH. 

Matovič piles in. Opposition politician Igor Matovič (Hnutie Slovensko), himself a conservative, called Smer’s attack a “dirty trick” — one he says could help Fico and sink KDH below 5 percent. He took aim at Progressive Slovakia (PS), urging it to stop “insulting Christians” after Denník N commentator Martin M. Šimečka — father of PS leader Michal Šimečka — labelled supporters of a constitutional change “fools”. Matovič warned PS could “hand Fico another government” if it keeps quiet.  

WHAT THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR HAD ON THURSDAY: 

Culture shock in Martin

The Etnographic Museum in Martin (source: Milena Kiripolská)

Fired: Nine senior experts at the Slovak National Museum (SNM) in Martin — including curators, a librarian, and a museum educator — were fired by email on a Sunday afternoon. The message, sent 2 November, told them their jobs had already been abolished two days earlier. Access was cut immediately.

Best regards, HR: The unsigned email, ending with “Best regards, HR Department”, wasn’t even sent from HR but from a facility manager. The official letter arrived later. Staff were ordered to hand over their work before the official notice — an impossible task, critics say.

No humanity. “It’s humiliating and unfair to treat people who’ve worked here all their lives like this — there’s no trace of humanity,” one employee told Denník N. The nine dismissed staff learned of their fate only after an earlier “mystery” meeting invitation that gave no hint of what was coming.

Too many curators: Acting director Zuzana Ďurčová, a former official at the Culture Ministry with no museum experience, defended the move, saying Martin had an “above-average number of curators”. Her view: each museum needs just one. Martin has six museums — and lost multiple curators across them.

Political backstory: Ďurčová replaced long-serving director Radovan Sýkora, who was ousted in June by SNM chief Andrea Predajňová. Ďurčová previously worked under Lukáš Machala, the Culture Ministry’s powerful chief of staff and an ally of the nationalist Slovak National Party. 

“Consolidation” or purge? Predajňová insists the layoffs are part of a “consolidation process”. Staff call it a purge. Since Minister Martina Šimkovičová took office in late 2023, SNM has replaced directors at museums across Slovakia — from Bojnice to Svidník — and ordered up to 10 percent staff cuts.

Cultural vandalism: For now, the museums in Martin — home to the country’s ethnographic collections and the open-air Museum of the Slovak Village — are running on autopilot. Weekly meetings have stopped, projects are frozen, and morale has cratered. Staff say the institution is “falling apart in silence.”

In other news

• A parliamentary inspection at Slovakia’s Agricultural Payments Agency (PPA) — which distributes EU rural funds — descended into shouting on Thursday as opposition MPs accused the government of a cover-up over dubious tourism subsidies. The agency said it found no wrongdoing after checking 53 projects, but opposition lawmakers including Alojz Hlina and Jozef Pročko called the review a sham and “a massive fraud.” At the centre of the storm is the Villa Amonra near Bratislava, a luxury guesthouse that received almost €200,000 in EU money but, according to local records, paid no tourist tax for years. The opposition says the ruling Smer party is shielding “the chosen few”. (Aktuality.sk)

• A Slovak court has ordered watchdog site Infosecurity.sk to remove a photo of Róbert Sopko, founder of the pro-Russian disinformation outlet Hlavné správy, after he claimed privacy rights. Sopko’s site has spent years spreading hate against liberals, the EU and LGBT+ people — but its boss now insists on anonymity. Infosecurity editor Viktor Breiner says the photo’s publication was in the public interest and plans to appeal, arguing the public “has a right to know who stands behind extremist propaganda”. (Denník N)

• A Slovak prosecutor has found that an investigator from the police inspectorate illegally blocked detained officer Matej Varga from contacting his lawyer, in a case once tied to alleged sabotage against Prime Minister Robert Fico. Varga’s lawyer Peter Kubina said he would seek damages and “personal accountability” for those involved. It’s the second time the same prosecutor has ruled the inspectorate acted unlawfully — previously noting that Fico gained improper access to the case file while Varga was denied it for more than 50 days.

• Justice Minister Boris Susko slammed an opposition SaS proposal to jail repeat shoplifters as “nonsense” and “a solution built on its head”. SaS had called for the return of the scrapped “Horalky law” — named after a cheap wafer bar — to curb petty crime. Susko’s ministry accused SaS of turning criminal policy into “a cabaret”, arguing that thefts stem from social problems, not soft sentencing.

• From April to October, 201 bears were shot in Slovakia and another 38 killed by cars or poachers, according to state data — which officials insist won’t affect the population. The State Nature Conservancy says nearly all were problem animals near towns, but activists and Greenpeace Poland accuse Bratislava of illegal culling that threatens cross-border bear populations. Environment officials reject the claims, saying only two bears were killed near the Polish border. (TASR)

• Slovakia’s Slovnaft refinery says a 58,000-ton shipment of non-Russian crude due from Croatia failed to arrive after pipeline operator Janaf “did not ensure the necessary logistics”. The delay, Slovnaft warns, threatens fuel exports from Bratislava tied to non-Russian oil. The dispute follows earlier cuts to deliveries of Arab Light crude, which Slovnaft calls a contract breach and Janaf blames on “technical needs” linked to halted Serbian supplies under US sanctions. Slovnaft says it’s considering legal action and accuses Janaf of endangering regional energy security. (Denník N)

• Slovakia’s National Theatre (SND) has launched a €3.5 million tender to design the long-awaited renovation of its historic 1886 building on Bratislava’s Hviezdoslav Square, closed since 2021 over safety concerns. If all goes to plan, construction will start in 2027 with reopening slated for the 2031/32 season. (TASR)

The Slovak National Theatre building on Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava (source: SME – Pavol Funtál)

THURSDAY FACEBOOK FEED: Politics by post

COALITION

• Smer: Smer MP Richard Glück has posted a video claiming to show what an “ordinary school” looks like in what he calls a “British caliphate”, warning he’d be jailed in the UK “just for having this opinion”. In the clip, he blames migrants for attacking women and accuses the opposition of wanting to bring “thousands” of them to Slovakia — though it’s the Smer-led government that’s busy scouting for foreign workers in Asia.

• Hlas: Hlas’s Health Minister Kamil Šaško is marking Movember with a call for men to “be real men” and take prostate cancer prevention seriously — while party leader Matúš Šutaj Eštok takes aim at “progressive morality in practice”, pointing to former EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders, now reportedly accused of money laundering after lecturing Slovakia on the rule of law.

• SNS: Slovakia’s Culture Ministry sent Deputy Minister Mário Maruška (SNS) to an informal EU meeting in Denmark, where ministers debated AI’s impact on culture and media, the digital preservation of heritage, and boosting media literacy — with Maruška urging a balance between tech progress and Europe’s cultural values.

OPPOSITION

• Progressive Slovakia: One big casino down in Bratislava, as shown in Progressive Slovakia’s latest video.

• SaS: The party is slamming on the handbrake of rising crime, accusing the government of fuelling thefts with its Criminal Code overhaul and calling for the return of the horálka offence to restore order.

• Slovensko: Hnutie Slovensko asks who should be the first minister to quit their job — Kamil Šaško (health), Rudolf Huliak (sports and tourism) or Ladislav Kamenický (finance)?

• KDH: KDH is questioning whether Comenius University’s medical faculty is making a misdiagnosis by scrapping entrance exams for students with an average grade of 1.1 or better — warning the move could unfairly penalise pupils from tougher schools and push even more top talent abroad.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Golden morning in the Slovak Karst: Photographer Richard Stuller captured a breathtaking sunrise from Soroška Pass, where the first autumn light bathed the plains in gold — with Krásna Hôrka Castle and even the distant High Tatras glowing in a single frame.

Saint returns home: The town of Liptovský Mikuláš — named after Saint Nicholas himself — plans to honour its namesake with a new three-metre statue in the historic centre. The sculpture, blending tradition with modern art, will feature an “active element of generosity” inviting visitors to donate to charity — and could become the Slovak town’s own answer to Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus fame.

Snacks on track: Slovakia’s state rail carrier ZSSK plans to roll out more onboard vending machines as it modernises its catering offer — a move to make up for missing restaurant cars and pricey meals. After a successful pilot on the Kozárovce–Banská Bystrica line, the snack machines will appear on routes from Bratislava to Banská Bystrica, Zvolen and Košice in the future.

Idles return to Pohoda: British punk-rock heavyweights Idles are heading back to Pohoda Festival in Trenčín — their first appearance there since 2017. Expect sweat, noise and a mosh pit with manners.

Friday, 7 November — What to expect

• Presentation of new survey results on discrimination in pay across Slovakia.

• The Statistics Office releases data on Slovakia’s foreign trade for September 2025.

• Slovakia’s hockey team faces the hosts today at the Deutschland Cup.

FRIDAY’S FRONT PAGES

Sme: Fees worth millions. Hungry on the train. Building a shadow cabinet.

Denník N: Aggressor in the kindergarten.

Pravda: EU emissions whip: how to avoid higher bills for fuel and heating.

Hospodárske noviny: Pellegrini: It’s time for revolutionary change.

Friday weather: Clear to partly cloudy, highs between 8°C and 15°C. (SHMÚ)

Name day: René.

Thanks for reading to the end. Enjoy your Friday — the day Today in Slovakia drops before we all take a well-earned weekend breather.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at [email protected].

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