MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, October 25): BRATISLAVA - Boris Kollar (We Are Family) has passed on the leadership of the inaugural session and of Parliament to his successor Peter Pellegrini (Voice-SD). In the secret ballot, Pellegrini received 131 lawmakers votes. He needed 76 to get elected. BRATISLAVA - President Zuzana Caputova on Wednesday appointed Slovakia's new government, which will be headed by Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD). The governing coalition consists of Smer-SD, Voice-SD and the Slovak National Party (SNS). The list of the ministers for Smer includes Robert Kalinak (deputy prime minister and defence), Ladislav Kamenicky (finance), Richard Takac (agriculture), Juraj Blanar (foreign affairs), Boris Susko (justice) and Jozef Raz Jr. (transport). The ministers for Voice-SD are as follows: Erik Tomas (labour), Zuzana Dolinkova (health), Richard Rasi (investment), Peter Kmec (deputy prime minister for the recovery plan), Denisa Sakova (deputy prime minister and economy), Tomas Drucker (education) and Matus Sutaj Estok (interior). As for SNS, Tomas Taraba has taken charge of the Environment Ministry, while Martina Simkovicova has become Culture Minister. The party is also set to staff the leadership of a new sport and tourism ministry, which is expected to be established in January 2024. BRATISLAVA - The newly appointed government will be constructive, will not avoid any challenges and will pursue a sovereign foreign policy, stated Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in his speech after being appointed as prime minister, adding that the sovereign Slovak voice will be heard from the government and ministries. "I wish that after the end of this government's tenure, we'll all be able to state not just numbers, but the fact that life in Slovakia is better and Slovakia is calmer. I make this promise in front of the entire Slovak public," said Fico. The premier pointed out that the government has never faced such bad socio-economic indicators, poverty and ruined finances in Slovakia's modern history. At the same time, Fico is happy that Parliament took the right step in electing its chair. BRATISLAVA - Former prosecutor-general Dobroslav Trnka has died at the age of 59, Novy Cas daily has reported. Trnka was fighting a severe disease for a long time. According to the daily, which had the information confirmed by the prosecutor's wife, he died on Wednesday. Bratislava, October 25 (TASR) - The ministers of the newly appointed government took over the agenda at their offices on Wednesday afternoon. From the ministries, they went straight to the Government Office to meet for the first session of Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) cabinet. BRATISLAVA - The MPs elected four parliamentary vice-chairs at the inaugural session of Parliament on Wednesday. The vice-chairs are Lubos Blaha (Smer-SD), Peter Ziga (Voice-SD), Andrej Danko (SNS) and Michal Simecka (PS). In the secret ballot, 142 votes were valid. There were 82 MPs in favour of electing Blaha, 28 were against, 32 abstained from the vote; 88 legislators voted for Ziga, 24 were against, 30 MPs abstained; 83 MPs supported Danko, 11 were against and 48 abstained; and 92 lawmakers voted for Simecka, 29 were against and 21 abstained. BRATISLAVA - Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) Government appointed on Wednesday at its first session new state secretaries at individual ministries and dismissed the previous ones. Igor Choma and Denisa Zilakova will be the state secretaries at the Transport Ministry, and Radovan Majersky was appointed to the post of Finance Ministry state secretary. Branislav Ondrus will be the state secretary at the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry. The Cabinet appointed Michal Kalinak as state secretary at the Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry. Kamil Sasko and Vladimir Simonak will be the state secretaries at the Economy Ministry. The Interior Ministry will have two state secretaries, namely Lucia Kurilovska and Patrik Krauspe. The Government appointed Igor Melicher to the post of Defence Ministry state secretary. The Government also appointed Milan Hodas and Pavel Gaspar to the post of Justice Ministry state secretary. Marek Estok was appointed as state secretary at the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry. Robert Zsembera will be the state secretary of the Education, Science, Research and Sports Ministry. Jan Krisanda will become the state secretary for sports. Stefan Kuffa will work as the state secretary at the Culture Ministry. Filip Kuffa and Jozef Smatana became the state secretaries at the Environment Ministry. Vladimir Vnuk will be the state secretary at the Agriculture Ministry. zel