Officials ask schools to buy Slovak meat, Poles send regrets

Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini called on all managers of schools to buy meat for school lunches for children only from cattle originating from Slovakia. "In order to buy meat where we have accurate records of where it comes from and what its quality is," he said. Three hundred kilograms of beef from sick cattle slaughtered in Poland were delivered to Slovak restaurants and schools. Later on Thursday the Veterinary Inspection announced that such meat was also found in smaller shops in Levice, Jelšsava, Kysucke Nove Mesto and Trenčin. The Polish embassy in Bratislava regrets that a Polish abattoir illegally slaughtered sick cows. "There's no evidence, however, that the beef that reached Slovakia is spoiled and that it could harm someone's health," reads a statement to the Slovakia media. Polish diplomats add that such allegations of fraud and untrustworthiness against the Polish veterinary authorities made in the media by some Slovak authorities jeopardise good relations between Poland and Slovakia.