SUMMARY - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - 5.30 p.m.

BRATISLAVA - Politicians from the previous government who drafted the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the USA at that time are now spearheading the wave of hatred and misinformation in connection with the document in the country, Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) said at a joint press conference with European Council President Charles Michel in Bratislava on Wednesday. BRATISLAVA - The most common causes of death in Slovakia in December 2021, as for a long time, were circulatory system diseases, accounting for 36 percent of deaths out of a total of 7,500, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday, adding that slightly more people died of these diseases in December than in a comparable period in the previous five years. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Smer-SD party aims to initiate a special parliamentary session over the upcoming Slovak-US Saber Strike joint military exercise in Slovakia due to the situation in Ukraine, TASR learnt on Wednesday. BRATISLAVA - OLaNO leader and Finance Minister Igor Matovic has claimed that he’s in favour of changing the one-constituency system for general elections, noting that there could be one constituency for each of the eight regions in the country, for instance. BRATISLAVA - A legal analysis of mandatory vaccination will be published, Justice Minister Maria Kolikova said following the Government meeting on Wednesday, adding that it's a theoretical document and if the Government decides it will consider compulsory vaccination, it'll be necessary to carry out an updated analysis. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak Security Council will continue talks on the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday evening, TASR learnt on the same day. BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA - EU leaders assessed the existing progress regarding the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) at a session in Brussels on Wednesday, with Slovakia due to present a summary of its own national recommendations as its contribution to the debate on the future of EU on Thursday (January 27). STRASBOURG - Strengthening the powers of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is another step towards implementing a European Health Union (EHU), which is among the flagship projects of European social democrats, Slovak MEP Miroslav Ciz has stated. am