Casino in Slovakia facing closure?

Investors are planning to build a large casino near the Austrian border in Slovakia. But the project is now in jeopardy, as the country’s bishops are mounting a strong opposition to the construction of this temple of entertainment.

Will the casino project be scrapped?

The casino, named “Metropolis,” is intended by its investors to become one of the largest casinos in all of Europe. It is to be located in Jarovce, a suburb of Bratislava , very close to the Austrian border. Since the motorway to Vienna runs nearby, the investors’ target customers are likely to be gamblers from Austria.

Outraged, Slovakia’s bishops are forcefully and persistently calling on the country’s politicians to immediately stop construction of the casino. In a press statement explaining their opposition, they said that gambling is ethically and morally reprehensible and would harm people and society in Slovakia. According to the bishops, the economic benefits would be entirely out of proportion to the social costs, as gambling would bring more negative than positive consequences. In their statement, the bishops listed the harms they say are caused by gambling. Their list ranges from “the ruin of entire families” and “an increase in suicides” to “higher costs for state agencies combating crime” and “an increase in prostitution.”