Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

We speak to Slovak Arts Council and several representatives of independent culture workers about their situation stricken by the coronavirus situation. And we mark the 52nd infamous anniversary of Warsaw pact toops invasion to Czechoslovakia by a story of singer Jožo Barina who was banned to play and sing because of one song.

20,000 foreign students are returning to Slovakia with the beginning of the academic year. What epidemiological situation are they facing regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. A unique historic Route 66 museum can be found in the backyard of a Central Slovak village. Summer news.

75 years ago, at the end of the Second World War, the largest episode of ethnic cleansing that the world has ever seen got under way, right here in Central Europe, with an estimated 12-14 million ethnic Germans, mostly women and children, being forcibly removed from their homes, forced to walk hundreds of kilometres, and expelled from the countries of their birth. Many didn't survive. The episode has been largely ignored by Western historians, with few exceptions. One of these is the Irish historian Raymond Douglas, who in 2012 published an extensive treatment of the expulsions in his book Orderly and Humane. Jonathan McCormick caught up with him recently to ask about how these terrible events came about, and why they have been so widely ignored in the West.

News and Topical issue. The European Commission wants more focus on digital healthcare and even Slovakia's own Strategy of the Digital Transformation 2030 mentions it but how does the reality look like from the perspective of those who try to support it?

In the second part of today’s programming Romana Grajcarová will bring you an interview with Lucia Krajčovičová and Andrea Komová discussing Model European Union conferences and the role they play in educating university students. The Clubs of the best Slovak ice hockey league have established their new stock company to run their league and are looking for new partners.

The Salzburg festival of opera and performing arts turns 100 in 2020 with several Slovak born stars having performed at this Olympus. Olympic games in Tokyo would have closed on August 8 had they been held. On this occasion, RSI gets back to the winter Olympic games 2018 in South Korea by visiting Korea located near Zvolen.

Slovak football clubs already know, who their opponents in the first rounds of the European competitions will be. We discuss their chances with Marek Arpáš, sports journalist from the Slovak radio. Summer is the time to go exploring new toursit sites. How important is if the site is inscribed in the UNESCO lists? Summer tips on where to go and what to see in Slovakia these days.

Unlike every other year in its long and venerable history, Bratislava's Summer School of Slovak Language and Culture in 2020 is being held in a purely virtual space, with students unable to freely travel to Slovakia due to the pandemic crisis. In spite of this, a full 80 students from various countries have registered and are participating in the online courses - about half the usual number and significantly more than expected. But what challenges are teachers and students having to face in this very unusual situation? And what implications might all this have for the future of the summer school and of education more generally? Also, we repeat our "Starsky and Hutch" story from last year about an English man cycling with his dog throughout the countries of Europe in order to raise awareness about the environmental damage being caused by human pollution. UPDATE: He now has cycled over 25,000 kilometres in the past four years, and was last spotted in southern Italy in July 2020.

News and Topical issue. Does the COVID-19 change the attitude towards the elderly?

News and Topical Issue. Today, we are going to discover one of the most beautiful villages in Slovakia, Bošáca. Bošáca village that stretches along the Bošáca valley in the White Carpathians is well known for its fruit orchards and one of the most famous Slovak distillates Bošácka Slivovica made from plums. Our personal guide today is going to be the mayor of Bošáca himself Daniel Juráček who will show us many of the charming places this picturesque piece of Slovak countryside has to offer. And, as a bonus, our journey today is going to be accompanied by traditional Slovak folk music from the Bošáca region.