SUMMARY-Friday, October 2, 2020 - 10 p.m.

BRUSSELS - Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) said following a two-day EU summit in Brussels on Friday that he would like Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to be on the sanctions list agreed upon by EU leaders on Thursday (October 1). BRATISLAVA - Slovakia has a huge increase in the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus, however, this could be assumed, Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) stated on Friday when assessing the current situation. BRUSSELS - It's good that the European Union has taken its strictest stance ever towards Turkey, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) stated on Friday following the end of a two-day EU summit in Brussels. BRATISLAVA - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) welcomed on Friday a resolute response from EU member states to what has been happening in Belarus through the approval of a sanctions list for Belarusians involved in election fraud and violence against people of the country, TASR learnt from head of the ministry's press department Juraj Tomaga on the same day. BRATISLAVA - European integration doesn't contradict our national sovereignty, but rather strengthens and expands it, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (a Freedom and Solidarity/SaS nominee) stated on Friday at a meeting of the heads of Slovak embassies abroad, TASR learnt from the ministry's press department on the same day. BRATISLAVA - Transport Minister Andrej Dolezal (a We Are Family nominee) made a business trip by train on the southern route Bratislava-Zvolen-Kosice on Friday, also addressing with the management of railway companies the possibilities of improving the comfort of passengers on the southern route, for example by introducing refreshments, TASR learnt from Transport Ministry's press department on the same day. BRATISLAVA - Entrepreneurs consider the systematic improvement of the business environment and the reform of the judiciary to be the most important reforms, according to a survey organised in the second half of September by the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS) and the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms (INEKO) among 105 entrepreneurs from all over Slovakia. am