Slovakia’s culture minister, Martina Šimkovičová, is under fire after it emerged her ministry spent almost €16,000 on flights for her and a senior aide to the United States – a sum anti-corruption campaigners say points to business or first-class travel. Culture minister's empty limousine tours Europe Read moreHer ministry’s spending has come under increasing scrutiny. Last autumn she also travelled to the US, beginning in New York with a Slovak diaspora church service and a jazz concert organised with the Slovak consulate. She later visited Slovak communities in Florida – where her daughter Petra lives – and in Iowa, where she donated €10,000 to the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. The trip concluded at a Slovak heritage festival in New Jersey and cost €30,000 in total.