In the eighth part of "The Slovak Snapshots" podcast, we'll traverse through a diverse landscape of news in Slovakia. From groundbreaking scientific achievements that will leave you in awe, to inspiring community initiatives that'll warm your heart, we've got it all covered. This podcast is purely about Slovakia in English.

After the dismissal of the now-former police chief Štefan Hamran, the new Minister of the Interior, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, continues the personnel changes in the leadership of the police force. Most recently, decided on the temporary deprivation of civil service for six policemen because they were reasonably suspected of having committed a crime. The new minister was not bothered by the fact that they all had the status of a protected whistle-blower.

Before leaving for the EU summit in Brussels, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico declared that he would not support military aid to Ukraine. He was saying it for a long time in the campaign, he said it before leaving for the summit and he also said it at the summit. But the results are different.

Slovak skier and Olympic champion Petra Vlhová finished third in the first competition of the new downhill World Cup season. In Saturday's giant slalom in Sölden, Austria, she confirmed her position from the first run.

The podcast used a short sample from youtube.com/eurosport.

"The Slovak Snapshots" podcast is written and recorded by Zorislav Poljak in cooperation with Ivan Hrušovský and Peter Hanák.