MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, April 29): BRATISLAVA - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS), Christian Democrats (KDH) and 'Slovakia' parties are jointly collecting signatures to file a no-confidence motion in Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD) from her post, party representatives told a press conference on Monday, adding that the signatures could be handed in within a week. They see several reasons for the minister's ouster, in particular the threat to EU funds and the "non-transparent" decision in connection with the construction of a university hospital in the Razsochy area in Bratislava. "Now they are promising us that a new university hospital will be built in Bratislava in 14 years in a totally inappropriate location," stressed MP Marek Krajci ('Slovakia', KU, For the People caucus), commenting on the decision that the university hospital should eventually be built in the Bratislava borough of Ruzinov. He pointed out that in the new location they will have to address issues such as expert opinions and land settlement anew, while in Razsochy several issues have already been completed. PRAGUE - Slovakia will contribute towards addressing the problem of illegal migration in terms of personnel, finances and technology, said parliamentary defence and security committee chair Tibor Gaspar following the end of a first round of talks between V4 (Visegrad Four - Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) parliamentary security and defence committees held in Prague on Monday. According to Gaspar, the V4 countries have the same view on the issue of illegal migration. "We had the opportunity to exchange views on illegal migration, which are basically the same for us, and we're also calling for concrete solutions ... On behalf of the Slovak Republic, I want to declare that we'll contribute towards resolving this migration problem in terms of personnel, finance and technologies," said Gaspar, stressing the need to guard the Schengen border strictly. According to Czech parliamentary security committee chair Pavel Zacek, who hosted the first round of the talks, the meeting of the V4 committees disproved the opinion that the countries were unable to agree. "I'd like to document that we have agreed on an approach and kind of vision for the future regarding illegal migration. The proof is the declaration that has been signed by all the representatives of the committees," he said. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) has launched a petition to save the second (capitalisation) pillar of the pension system, SaS leader Branislav Groehling told a news conference on Monday, citing worries that the government might interfere with it again as the reason behind the move. If the petition obtains 100,000 signatures, Parliament will have to deal with it, said Groehling, reacting in this way to a statement by Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), who didn't rule out revising the second pillar. "As many as 1.8 million people in Slovakia save money within the second pillar, and the government of Smer-SD is doing its utmost to ensure that this pension will be as bad as it can be for Slovaks," stated Groehling, adding that the government has reduced the contribution to the second pillar from 5.5 percent to 4 percent. BRATISLAVA - The thirteenth pension will no longer be a social benefit and will become a new pension benefit paid out by social insurance company Socialna poistovna, similarly to other pensions, according to an amendment to the law on social insurance signed by President Zuzana Caputova on Monday, her spokesman Martin Strizinec reported. "The sum of a thirteenth pension, a state social benefit, ranges between €50 and €300 in line with the current legislation. Despite the significant growth in consumer prices since 2020, these sums haven't been increased, reducing the real value of this state social benefit," stated the Labour Ministry in the explanatory report. BRATISLAVA - Ex-premier Mikulas Dzurinda, who led Slovakia into the European Union (EU) 20 years ago, doesn't see the slightest reason to consider any alternative to the EU at the moment. "The only question is how Slovakia can contribute to the EU's common prosperity and how effectively it is able to participate in this prosperity," Dzurinda told TASR in anticipation of the anniversary of Slovakia's accession to the EU. Slovakia will mark the 20th anniversary of joining the EU on May 1. BRATISLAVA - Unless the government takes additional measures to consolidate public finances, the general government deficit could reach €7.587 billion, or 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, according to the April fiscal prognosis released by the Budgetary Responsibility Council on Monday. The deficit should thus be €104 million higher than the sum foreseen in the March prognosis. "This month-on-month deterioration can mainly be ascribed to higher-than-expected health-care expenditures," stated RRZ. The general government deficit has been approved at almost 6 percent of GDP. Contrary to a budgeted year-on-year decrease in the deficit, the RRZ estimates that it will grow by 0.9 percentage points of GDP when compared to 2023, with the increase amounting to €1.6 billion. ko