England 0 Slovakia 1?
Interim report to Slovakia’s Parliament: “there has been no pandemic in Slovakia”
Dear Church Leaders (and everyone else)
Further to these recent posts…
…and as England prepare for their Euro 2024 last 16 match…
…here is some interim news (largely via automated translation)1 of the official investigation into Slovakia’s covid policy:
Peter Kotlár, the [Slovakian] government’s representative, presented a first interim report to parliament that sets the direction of the investigation. He did not report whether the “measures” were appropriate or whether the money was used correctly, as the opposition would have liked. Instead, he reported to Parliament that there was never a “pandemic”.
What is a pandemic?
So all measures and all expenditure were arbitrary state authoritarianism without basis. Kotlár’s conclusion, which he presented to Parliament last week: “There is clear evidence that, considering what a pandemic means, considering the incidences and other measurable parameters, there has been no pandemic in Slovakia.”
This is because the parameters for measurement were not clearly defined. This conclusion means that the question of “right” and “wrong” measures is not permissible. Because every “measure” was without basis.
The opposition reacted with outrage at this verdict. After all, they were in government at the time. It is still claimed that more than 21,000 people “died from Covid-19”. Kotlár cannot be serious about this statement, the opposition [objects]. He would be “spitting in the face of everyone who works in the health care system”.
[Kotlár’s] answer? He said he was “deadly serious”. He added that investigations were still underway to find out who was really responsible for the 21,000 deaths, “so we'd better keep quiet.” He also raised the possibility of bioterrorism.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung [one of the largest newspapers in Germany, considered centre-left] reported in a biased manner on the developments in Slovakia, where “[covid] deniers” are now in government. It passed on the Opposition’s criticism that the government was “bringing the country into disrepute with the WHO as well”. This would “endanger the health care of all Slovaks” — a pretty harsh accusation. Slovakia has rejected the changes to the WHO rules (International Health Regulations) — TKP reported.
What the Süddeutsche did not report [was that] according to the Slovak press Kotlár also said: “At the moment we have a vague definition [of a pandemic], which says that it is a large-scale epidemic that jumps across continents… I am only concerned with establishing the definition of a pandemic, not only in today’s world, but also for the pandemic situation in Slovakia. On this basis, we can then issue orders and bans that restrict ordinary citizens.” The commissioner said this the next day, after the press had expressed great outrage. There was also criticism from the government partner Hlas, the left-liberal part of the Slovak Social Democrats. The Minister of Health (Hlas) called the statements “disrespectful”.
Kotlár’s findings from the investigative committee will be forwarded to the government solely as recommendations. After that, it will again be a political question whether and which of them will be implemented. Other parts of the Slovak public, however, are asking why the law enforcement authorities are not taking action. Stefan Harabin (third in the 2024 presidential election with 11.7 percent) said, for example: “Kotlár should be thanked for telling the truth.” He called the Attorney General’s Office “impotent.”
England 0 Slovakia 1?
Alas I can’t see England equalising any time soon…
[Update: when I wrote the above piece, I did not seriously entertain the possibility that the title would be the score after 90 minutes]
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The Big Reveal — Christianity carefully considered (which can also be found via Substack, or e.g. DuckDuckGo, but not Google)
h/t Joel Smalley whose Dead Man Talking was the first Substack I subscribed to