Final Word from Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Industry Min. Jozef Síkela (STAN) was picked yesterday by EU Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen to take charge of the EU's international partnerships, and now he and the other nominees must go before the EU Parliament. Síkela apparently decided he should spruce up his official CV for such an occasion. He left the board of Erste Group Bank AG on June 15, 2019, as can be seen on Page 82 of the 2019 annual report, but his EU CV extends his Erste board tenure until 2020. This allows him to gloss over his family leave and his consulting and investment activities. These latter activities brought Síkela into contact with an old banking acquaintance, Věslav Michalik, who was STAN's original choice for industry minister. Michalik was also a one-time employee of the Institute of Radiation Dosimetry, which is apparently where the police got their inspiration for the code name for the Dosimeter criminal case. Michalik died shortly before any arrests were made, but other STAN politicians went to jail. Síkela of course didn't, and now he's trying to whitewash the period from his CV. All the more reason for MEPs to ask him about it. [ Czech Republic Dozimetr European Union résumé ]
Glossary of difficult words
to spruce up - to make someone or something cleaner or tidier;
CV - short for curriculum vitae, a brief account of a person's education, qualifications and previous occupations; résumé;
tenure - a period for which an office is held;
to gloss over - to treat or describe something (such as a serious problem or error) as if it were not important;
leave - time when one has permission to be absent from work or from duty in the armed forces;
one-time - former;
to whitewash - deliberately to attempt to conceal unpleasant or incriminating facts.