MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, January 3, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, January 2): BRATISLAVA - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) can't envision any potential post-election cooperation with Voice-SD any more, their leaders have told TASR in end-of-year interviews, pointing out that after more than a year in power Voice-SD has grown distant from them and is gravitating towards Smer-SD instead. PS and KDH also criticise Voice-SD for lending support to Penal Code changes, while House Chair Peter Ziga, who's been tasked with heading Parliament in a temporary capacity, told TASR that he stands behind the amendments. BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has left the people of Slovakia and doesn't address their problems only his own, and he should explain his trip to Moscow and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to Parliament, to which he answers, Progressive Slovakia (PS) chair Michal Simecka stated at a press conference on Thursday. Simecka added that together with its opposition partners PS will initiate the convening of a special emergency House session over Fico's visit to Russia. BRATISLAVA - The opposition SaS party perceives cooperation among the opposition parties in a positive light, but he still rejects the 'Slovakia' party as a partner, as he cannot envision cooperation with people who don't want to cooperate, SaS chair Branislav Groehling has told TASR in an end-of-year interview. "SaS cooperates with PS and KDH. We collaborate in public life in organising protests as well as in parliamentary life in drafting joint bills, resolutions and holding press conferences together. Our cooperation is good, despite the fact that each party has its own identity," said Groehling. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party on Thursday criticised Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for making Slovakia a "laughing stock" in Europe due to his stance on the end of Russian gas transit through Ukraine and his visit to Moscow, while it accused Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) of remaining silent in this situation. "Robert Fico has known about the stoppage of gas supplies via Ukraine for a long time, but he's been unable to do anything during his entire year in office. Now he's shamefully lying and slandering our neighbour, which is facing Russian aggression. The termination of gas transport through Ukraine is based on the proper termination of a contract between Russia and Ukraine. Since the beginning of Russia's aggression, it's been publicly communicated that as of January 1, 2025, it will not be possible to use the route through the warzone of Ukraine for transporting Russian gas to Slovakia and Europe. In the end, the Ukrainians would have been acting against themselves if they had extended the contract with Gazprom, which allows Vladimir Putin to receive money to bomb and kill them," said SaS leader Branislav Groehling. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak Embassy in Baku became the contact point embassy of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) in Azerbaijan on January 1, 2025, with a two-year mandate to be carried out jointly with Sweden, as reported by the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry's communications department on Thursday. According to the ministry, this step proves that Slovakia is a respected ally in NATO. BRATISLAVA - The Health Ministry is intensively dealing with the situation regarding e-prescriptions, which can't be issued for some medicines since January 1 due to an amendment to the National Health Information System Act, while claiming it wants to reduce the impact on the public as soon as possible, TASR has learnt from the ministry's communications department. "The entire related legislative process has to be implemented in several stages. The last stage of the process will be implemented during the first quarter of 2025. At the same time, the ministry is taking all steps to avoid any interference with the rights of patients," they added. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia will lose €500 million a year in transit fees due to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to stop Russian gas supplies through Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said on a social network on Thursday, adding that Smer-SD is ready to negotiate with its coalition partners on the adoption of reciprocal measures, including stopping the electricity supply to Ukraine as well as limiting the support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia. "I believe that the coalition partners also see the situation surrounding the halting of gas transit as extremely serious and worthy of a sovereign response by sovereign Slovakia. The only alternatives for sovereign Slovakia is to resume transit or to seek compensation mechanisms to make up for the loss of nearly €500 million in public finances," said Fico. BRATISLAVA - The decision to stop gas supplies from Ukraine represents a major step that not only betrays the existing trust, but also raises questions about the fairness and reliability of Ukraine's approach to mutual relations, chairman of the coalition Voice-SD party Matus Sutaj Estok stated on Thursday, adding that Ukraine forgot about the assistance provided by Slovakia when it stopped gas supplies. Estok pointed out that Slovakia had provided significant military, political and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict and had also extended a helping hand to all people fleeing the war. "The Slovak Republic will lose hundreds of millions of euros as a result of President Zelenskyy's move - both in the purchase of gas from another supplier and in lost transit fees to other countries," said Estok. lin