MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, January 15, 2022 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, January 14): BRATISLAVA - Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) has convened a roundtable to take place on Tuesday (January 18) at which the chairs of the relevant political parties will discuss legislation aimed at enabling a referendum on an early election, TASR learnt from Kollar's spokesperson Michaela Jurcova on Friday. BRATISLAVA - Sitting at a round table to discuss referendum on an early election with people who plundered Slovakia for 12 years makes no sense, head of the 'For the People' party and Vice-premier Veronika Remisova said on Friday. Leaders of the coalition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and OLaNO parties Richard Sulik and Igor Matovic also reject the round table. The head of Parliament said that the leaders of all relevant political parties represented in Parliament will receive an invitation to the round table. For example, the extra-parliamentary entities Voice-SD and Republic plan to participate in it. Far-right LSNS will also take part in the meeting, MP for the party Martin Belusky confirmed for TASR. "I'll go there, of course, it's my duty to go to such a meeting, because I care that there is a solution to political crises in the Constitution," Smer-SD head Robert Fico said at a press conference on Friday. BRATISLAVA - Entrepreneur Norbert B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] was re-arrested on Thursday (January 13) in relation to the Rolls case, TASR learnt from Andrea Dobiasova of the Police Corps Presidium on Friday. The arrest by the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) investor is linked to concerns that Norbert B. might influence witnesses and continue with criminal activities. BRATISLAVA - MP Milos Svrcek (We Are Family) submitted to Parliament a proposal to amend the Constitution so that it is possible to shorten the electoral term of Parliament via a constitutional law as well as a referendum, TASR learnt on Friday. Among other things, he proposes that a referendum on a snap election should not take place in the first or last year of the electoral term. According to the proposal, in the event of a successful referendum, the parliamentary chair should announce a parliamentary election within seven days of announcing a valid result of the referendum. The MP proposes that the changes take effect on March 1, 2024. BRATISLAVA - The Prosecutor-general's Offices of Slovakia and Russia have agreed to cooperate with each other, spokesman for the Prosecutor-general Office Dalibor Skladan told TASR on Friday, adding that the cooperation programme was signed during the working trip of Prosecutor-general Maros Zilinka and his deputy Jozef Kandera to Moscow. "The prosecutors general agreed that the signing of this cooperation programme is not just a formal act, but its implementation will bring balanced and constructive cooperation at an expert level," said Skladan, noting that the cooperation is to take place in 2022 and 2023. It concerns areas of corruption, extremism, cybercrime, environmental crime, but also the protection of the rights of dependent children and disabled people. BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-general Maros Zilinka should be disciplined for taking part in the celebrations with a person from the EU sanctions list, head of the 'For the People' party and Vice-premier Veronika Remisova stated on Friday in response to his participation in the celebrations of the anniversary of the setting up of the Russian Prosecutor's Office, where he was invited by Russian Prosecutor-general Igor Krasnov. BRATISLAVA - Yearly inflation in 2021 increased to 3.2 percent, the highest value in the past nine years, as a result of rapid growth in prices in the second half of the year, the Statistics Office reported on Friday. The statisticians noted that last year prices rose faster than the professional public expected. In 2020, under the influence of the pandemic, inflation reached only 1.9 percent. "Developments during 2021 were turbulent, while in the first two months consumer prices rose by less than one percent, their growth rate gradually increased. From July, year-on-year price growth grew above three percent and in the last month of the year approached six percent," noted head of the price statistics department Stefan Adamec. BRATISLAVA - Monthly inflation rose to 5.8 percent in December 2021, fuelled mainly by rising food prices, construction materials and, lately, also newspapers, the Statistics Office reported on Friday. The figure amounts to the highest monthly inflation spike since December 2004. Compared to December 2020, prices were higher in all 12 monitored sectors. The inflation was driven most by more expensive food, with a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 6.3 percent, which was the highest in 2021. Year-round, the highest month-on-month rates were recorded for bread and cereals (8.3 percent), milk and cheese (6.5 percent) as well as oils and fats (18.5 percent), and meat (3.3 percent). Soft drinks grew at a slower pace than in November. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's coronavirus update for Thursday, January 13, according to the National Health Information Centre's (NCZI) special website covid-19.nczisk.sk: NEW POSITIVE PCR TESTS: 1,888 Daily PCR tests: 8,495 NEW POSITIVE ANTIGEN TESTS: 331 Daily antigen tests: 19,175 NEW DEATHS: 60 Deaths in total: 17,188 am