SUMMARY - Monday, April 4, 2022 - 9.40 p.m.

BRATISLAVA - President Zuzana Caputova lighted a candle in front of the Ukrainian Embassy to Slovakia to commemorate victims of war atrocities in the town of Bucha, TASR learnt from the President's post on a social network on Monday. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia will utilise each and every option made available by the European legislation to regulate energy prices, labour minister Milan Krajniak (We Are Family) stated after a meeting with Tripartite partners (representatives of the Government, employers and employees) on Monday. BRATISLAVA - The deliberation on whether to take cooperating defendant and former head of the Financial Administration's Criminal Office Ludovit M. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] and former deputy director of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) Boris B. into custody was adjourned until Tuesday (April 5) by a judge of the Bratislava District Court III, TASR learnt from court spokesperson Pavol Adamciak on Monday. BRATISLAVA - Several public buildings dominating the Bratislava skyline will be lit in blue on Monday to mark the 73rd anniversary of the founding of NATO and the 18th anniversary of Slovakia's accession to it, TASR learnt from the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry on Monday. BRATISLAVA - The duty to register with the e-Border as well as the mandatory quarantine for the unvaccinated after their return from abroad will be cancelled as of Wednesday (April 6), along with the obligation to wear respirators outdoors, TASR learnt from the Public Health Office on Monday. BRATISLAVA - The recent general election in Hungary proved that the conservative-patriotic brand of politics championed by Viktor Orban is supported by the overwhelming majority of voters because it brings stability and prosperity to all Hungarians, former premier (2018-20), MP and leader of non-parliamentary Voice-SD party Peter Pellegrini stated on Monday. BRATISLAVA - Scores of experts specialising in the protection of children's rights as well as several NGOs propose Janette Motlova, the current director of the Child Psychology and Pathopsychology Research Institute, as a candidate for the Government Proxy for Children, the League for Mental Health reported on its social network. BRATISLAVA - The fulcrum of a meeting between Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) and ambassadors of EU states, held at the ministry in Bratislava on Monday, was the security situation in the wake of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the EU's Strategic Compass, TASR learnt from Defence Ministry spokesperson Martina Koval Kakascikova on the same day. BRATISLAVA - Charges pressed against key cooperating defendant in high-profile corruption cases and former head of Financial Administration's Criminal Office Ludovit M. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] and former Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) deputy director Boris B. constitute illegal interference with powers of courts and law enforcement vis-a-vis the case where they serve as witnesses, Boris B.'s attorney Peter Kubina told the media before a court was to decide on their custody on Monday. BRATISLAVA - Despite the horrors that we're witnessing in Ukraine today and atrocities perpetrated these days by the Russian army, we shouldn't be history blind and infuse the past with the blame of the present, just as the respect for the past cannot be viewed as legimitizing the current Kremlin regime, President Zuzana Caputova declared on Monday on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Bratislava's liberation by the Red Army. BRATISLAVA - It is the shared aim of both the Economy Ministry and the Council of Slovak Exporters to streamline the business environment also by extending support to Slovak exports, Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS) declared after his meeting with council president Lukas Parizek on Monday. BRATISLAVA - The specialised health care centre was ceremonially opened at St. Michael's Hospital with Interior Minister Roman Mikulec, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (both OLaNO) and Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (an OLaNO nominee) in attendance on Monday. BRATISLAVA - First group of 200 Czech soldiers will come to Slovakia to bolster the NATO forward presence on Monday, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) reported on the same day. mf