MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, November 22, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, November 21): SPISSKA NOVA VES - The meetings of the Progressive Slovakia (PS) parliamentary caucus are continuing these days in the lower Spis area in eastern Slovakia, with party chairman Michal Simecka pointing out in the town of Spisska Nova Ves (Kosice region) on Thursday that local people want to see results, and naming the problems that bother them the most. "The districts of Gelnica [Kosice region], Levoca [Presov region] and Spisska Nova Ves aren't our traditional 'strongholds', which makes me appreciate the warm welcome at many meetings all the more. I held talks with the Gelnica mayor, where they have problems with transport and health-care accessibility, as well as with excluded communities, and in Margecany [Kosice region], the mayor and I talked about the issue of waste in the Ruzin dam. These are precisely the problems that the state should be tackling at the moment and providing funding. People don't really care who's from which party. They want specific results from those who have power, and at least a slightly better life, as is being achieved in nearby Poland, for example," stressed Simecka, adding that many things can be easily financed by the state, they don't cost much money, but they can open the door to greater development. According to Simecka, people are worried about the rising prices and municipalities still don't know what their financing will look like. He also pointed to long-term problems in the Spis area, such as socially excluded communities, infrastructure, access to health care and declining demographics. The PS leader sees huge potential in the region, especially in the economic and tourism fields. BELGRADE/BRATISLAVA - After a 15-year hiatus, Slovakia will return to the KFOR international peacekeeping force by sending 60 soldiers, with a mandate that might later be extended gradually up to 150 soldiers, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak declared during his visit to Serbia on Wednesday, TASR learnt from its special correspondent. "The escalation of tension (between Kosovo and Serbia) is obvious. The situation hasn't been resolved yet in a peaceful way, hence it's important for us to assume our share of responsibility as well," Kalinak told the journalists. He reiterated Slovakia's stance, which doesn't recognise Kosovo as an independent state. Slovakia used to be involved in the KFOR mission in 1999-2010 and a total of 2,004 members of the Slovak Armed Forces participated in it to date. Kalinak also commented on the current situation in Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than 1,000 days. He reiterated that countries that decided to grant Kiev permission to use their weapons to strike targets deep in Russia have apparently become direct participants in the conflict. He finds such a decision rather dangerous. "It goes quite an extra mile beyond the defence of Ukrainian soil," he warned. As for Ukraine carrying out military operations in Russia's Kursk region, that is a development of the war front situation and neither side can be blamed for that, believes Kalinak. He underlined that the war was started by Russia. Slovakia carefully monitors the situation and any potential security risks to its population and property with respect to Russia's alleged launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that targeted the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro during its night attack. In Kalinak's view, Moscow is sending a signal this way, which must be "taken into consideration". When asked by TASR how he views the involvement of North Korean troops in the conflict, Kalinak replied that this is a bilateral matter between Pyongyang and Moscow. He added that according to his information, the North Korean soldiers are still located within Russia. "The situation would most certainly change, if they crossed the border and launched operations on Ukrainian soil. That, however, hasn't been the case thus far," he said. BRATISLAVA - The construction of a new tram line in the Bratislava borough of Petrzalka, in the Jungmannova-Janikov dvor section, will have smooth financing, according to the contract on non-refundable financial means, which was signed a few days ago by the capital city and the Transport Ministry, Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) reported at a press conference on Thursday. This is an amount exceeding €66,897,914 from the EU funds intended for financing the second phase of the transport project. "When before the municipal election many people said that by dividing the Petrzalka tram project into two programming periods we would lose the EU funds, this is exactly the moment that closed this chapter definitively. The signing of the contract confirms that no EU funds will be lost and the entire tram line will be co-financed from EU funds," stated Vallo. The mayor also announced that an important milestone in the construction of the tram line is slowly approaching, and the importance of the transport construction is matched by the pace of construction work on several sections. According to him, all its contours are already visible on the construction site, meaning not only the line and tracks themselves, but also where the pavements or cycle paths will be built, or how the crossings will look. Currently, they are also finishing the connection of the rails of the original tram line with the newly built part. BRATISLAVA - Custody of Juraj C. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], accused in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), has been extended by four months, according to Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka's post on a social network on Thursday. "In the criminal case of the murderous attack on the premier, the judge presiding over the preliminary proceedings of the Specialised Criminal Court today complied with the motion of the prosecutor of the Prosecutor-General's Office and extended the period of custody of accused J.C. by four months," stated Zilinka. Juraj C. shot and seriously injured the prime minister following a government meeting in Handlova (Trencin region) on May 15. He was first charged with the particularly serious crime of premeditated murder committed at the attempt stage. At the beginning of July, the legal qualification was changed and the accused is being prosecuted for the particularly serious crime of terrorist attack. BRATISLAVA - Former president Andrej Kiska considers the termination of the provision of security guards to be unlawful and retroactive, TASR has learnt from his social media account on Thursday. According to the ex-president, this has been confirmed by several lawyers. During his tenure, he received numerous threats and his security service dealt with several cases where he was attacked. "The Slovak police today aren't able to ensure on a daily basis the safety of people who aren't prominent persons, who aren't attacked by Robert Fico on a daily basis. Therefore, I believe that the police will ensure my protection and the protection of my family and that there will be no tragedy. If something happens, it will be too late to talk about what the police could have done better and who is to blame," opined Kiska, adding that people's aggression is increasing and the government is increasingly dividing society. The Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that the former head of state will no longer receive protection as of midnight, citing a court decision in the KTAG tax case, in which Kiska is a legally convicted person. In this context, the ex-president has already had his life-long salary payments stopped. Kiska announced that he will appeal to the court. BELGRADE/BRATISLAVA - Slovakia respects the territorial integrity of Serbia and will never betray it regarding the issue of Kosovo, said Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) following his meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday, TASR has learnt from its special correspondent. Fico declared that Slovakia will redeploy its soldiers in the NATO peace-keeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR). He expressed interest in relations between Slovakia and Serbia being based on mutual support and trust. "We can lean on each other," he stated. According to Fico, his talks with Vucic show the potential of debates between politicians promoting "an independent sovereign policy, based on the principles of international law and not interfering in the internal affairs of another country". He views it as a mistake that they don't meet more often. The Slovak premier also praised the "excellent results" and economic development of Serbia, asking "what some Western countries would give for such development". Slovakia fully respects Serbia's accession talks with the European Union. According to Fico, it's up to Serbia what path it chooses. He offered Vucic Slovakia's experience from the EU-integration process. According to him, Slovakia made some "tragic mistakes" in the accession process that resulted, for example, in weakening the country's energy security. He joked that Slovakia will share these mistakes if Serbia is interested. The two leaders also spoke about the Slovak community living in Serbia. Fico said that they are Slovaks who love Serbia as the country in which they live, but are also striving to preserve what they've brought to Serbia. mf