MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, December 21, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, December 20): BRATISLAVA - The government approved an agreement with the Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ) at its meeting on Friday aimed at establishing social reconciliation in the health-care sector, committing itself to meeting several of the union’s demands while agreeing to further negotiations on disputed points, with LOZ supposed to ensure that doctors withdraw their resignation notices after the agreement is signed. The agreement will be signed by Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) and head of the Medical Trade Union (LOZ) Peter Visolajsky. In the agreement, the government has committed itself to making sure that hospital doctors will receive salary increases in line with the original plan before consolidation. This will be provided by an amendment which should be submitted by the government to the House via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. According to the agreement, Parliament has until the end of February to approve the changes. BRATISLAVA - The agreement between the government and the Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ) is a compromise, and Slovak patients have won, said Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) after signing the agreement on social reconciliation in the health-care sector on Friday. "The lives and health of patients are at the centre of this agreement and a common goal and interest of the government of the Slovak Republic and doctors. The result of this agreement, I think, can be summed up in three words - Slovak patients have won, and they've won thanks to the compromise," said the minister. One of the most important points of the agreement, according to the minister, is the government's promise to carry out a thorough in-depth, personnel, process and material audit next year in order to make the management of state hospitals more efficient. "The audit will examine the efficiency of staffing, compliance with working hours, operational indicators, procurement of drugs and medical equipment," he added. BRATISLAVA - Head of the Medical Trade Union (LOZ) Peter Visolajsky will monitor the government closely in the foreseeable future to check whether it is meeting specific items of the new deal, which must be carried out by the end of February. Speaking at a press conference after signing an agreement between LOZ and the government on Friday, Visolajsky voiced his appreciation for the fact that both parties have arrived at a compromise, and he thanked Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) as well as all 3,340 doctors who tendered mass resignations for helping to achieve the deal. BRATISLAVA - The Interior Ministry has installed security cameras at the Police Corps' secondary vocational school in Pezinok (Bratislava region) as a pilot project, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok announced at a press conference on Friday. "The installed camera system at the Pezinok school consists of nine cameras monitoring five points of entry and locations outside the school," said the minister, adding that other schools will be equipped with five cameras on average. All of them are to be installed at points of ingress and the school perimeter. Sutaj Estok added that the camera footage will be fed to the Police Corps' operations centre in real time via a secured Interior Ministry link. "Access to the data will be granted only to authorised school personnel, so there won't be any misuse of the data," he added. BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) disagreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on five fundamental issues during Thursday's EU summit, TASR learnt from its special correspondent in Brussels on Friday. Fico stated that he understands that the Ukrainian President is under pressure due to the situation in his country, but underlined that he didn't expect private statements made behind the closed doors to be disclosed to the public. The Slovak Prime Minister responded this way to the fact that at his post-summit press briefing, Zelenskyy mentioned Fico and stated that it's reprehensible that Fico talks about Slovakia due to lose its profits from the transit of Russian gas once Ukraine will shut down the gas pipeline on its soil. Zelenskyy accentuated that it is also the gas money that Russia earns from this trade that help finance the war and cause the suffering and loss of life in Ukraine. BRATISLAVA/DUBLIN - Slovakia has provided, via the Interior Ministry's crisis management section, an evacuation flight from Egypt to Ireland for 25 Palestinian child patients from the Gaza Strip, the Interior Ministry's press department informed TASR on Friday. Slovakia mediated the flight at the request of Ireland, which will provide the patients with medical care. Members of the Association of Slovak Samaritans provided psychological and medical treatment to the child patients during the evacuation. Its deputy was the commander of the whole operation at the same time. The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry was involved in the operation as well, arranging fly-over and landing permits. ko