MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, January 20): BRATISLAVA - Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Office (UGKK) chairman Juraj Celler stepped down from his post on Monday, telling TASR on the same day that he did so in order to maintain the stability and credibility of the office. "I am making this decision with full awareness of the responsibility connected with this post, and with the aim of ensuring that the office can continue to fulfil its mission for the benefit of the citizens of Slovakia in an effective and transparent manner," said Celler. Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) called for his resignation in connection with the recent cyber-attack on the land registry office. Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) also stated that Celler should step down, mentioning in a politics programme on TA3 on Sunday (January 19) that Celler had allegedly been communicating with the hackers. The UGKK chief has denied this. The government appointed Celler to the post last year based on a proposal by Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD). BRATISLAVA - Slovakia has borrowed €812.3 million in the first auction of government bonds to take place this year, in which total demand from investors reached almost €2 billion, the Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) announced on Monday. ARDAL sold four kinds of bonds with maturity dates ranging from 2028 to 2043. The average yield in accepted bids ranged between 2.5979 percent p.a. and 3.9813 percent p.a. Slovakia obtained the highest sum (€218.5 million) from a sale of bonds with the longest maturity date (in 2043). Investor demand in the auction totalled €427.8 million. The average accepted yield on maturity stood at 3.9813 percent p.a. PRESOV - A 43-year-old man has been charged with crimes of sexual abuse and producing and distributing child pornography in connection with the offences of possessing and participating in the performance of child pornography, TASR has learnt from Police Corps Presidium spokeswoman Martina Slavikova. According to the police, the father of two young daughters repeatedly abused them over a long period of time to produce pornography and also sexually abused one of his daughters. He distributed the material on the dark web. "Multiple investigation teams from around the world, along with international police organisations Europol and Interpol, were involved in identifying the offender through international cooperation," said Slavikova. A motion for pre-trial custody was filed against the offender, and a judge of the Presov District Court agreed to this, said the police. The man faces a prison sentence of seven to twelve years. On Tuesday, January 14, police officers from the cyber-crime department of the Police Corps Presidium, along with members of the Presov Emergency Police Unit and police officers from Presov, conducted an operation in connection with this case called 'Teddy Bear' in Presov region. BRATISLAVA - Pope Francis has expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic knife attack at the secondary grammar school in the town of Spisska Stara Ves (Presov region), the Slovak Bishops Conference's (KBS) press office wrote on its website. Through Apostolic Nuncio to Slovakia Nicola Girasoli, he sent a message of spiritual closeness and solidarity to all those affected by this tragedy. The Holy Father's condolences were conveyed by Spis Bishop Frantisek Trstensky during Sunday's (January 19) farewell to one of the victims in the village of Spisske Hanusovce (Presov region). In his letter, the apostolic nuncio expressed his deep sorrow over the loss of the school deputy director and one of the students, also pointing to the prayers for a speedy recovery of the injured student. He stressed that Holy Father Francis is praying for the eternal repose of the deceased Mary and Alena, who died under the tragic circumstances, and is joining in prayer with the families affected by this pain. The apostolic nuncio called for unity in common hope and for deepening of respect for life in society. "May this tragic event bring us closer together and lead us to develop attitudes of respect for life," he wrote in a letter addressed to Trstensky, who read it out during the farewell. The victims of last week's attack at the secondary grammar school in Spisska Stara Ves were two women, aged 18 and 51, a student and the school deputy director. Another 18-year-old woman with moderately severe injuries was taken to hospital. An 18-year-old student who attended the high school, was arrested on suspicion of committing the crime. BRATISLAVA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is opening up possibilities for Slovakia for Russian gas supplies through the TurkStream pipeline, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a press conference following his meeting on Monday with the Turkish president in Ankara, adding that the issue could also be discussed with Russian partners. According to the Slovak premier, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) should discuss the issue in Istanbul at the end of the week. Erdogan has promised to consider Slovakia's need. Fico again criticised Ukraine's stance to stop the transit of Russian gas through its territory. According to him, Erdogan immediately offered the possibility of communication between the Slovak economy minister and the responsible Turkish minister, which, in cooperation with the Russian partner, could lead to Slovakia being able to continue to take gas from Russia. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini believes that new President of the United States of America Donald Trump will be able to seek and find common diplomatic solutions to problems so that results would be beneficial for Slovakia and the USA, as befits allies, TASR has learnt from his post on a social network. "I congratulate President Trump on his inauguration," wrote Pellegrini. Republican Trump took the oath of office for his second term in the US Capitol rotunda at noon local time (6 p.m. CET) on Monday, becoming the 47th president of the United States. BRATISLAVA - The growing, albeit slowing, Slovak economy is likely to continue to send new demands for employees at the beginning of the year, analyst at UniCredit Bank Lubomir Korsnak said on Monday in a commentary on the December unemployment data published by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVaR). "But recent months have indicated a possible return of the two-speed nature of the domestic labour market. Traditionally, at the turn of the year, the unemployment rate is temporarily boosted by traditional seasonal factors (the end of seasonal work, especially in the construction sector). This time, these could also be increased by a number of mass redundancies already announced at the start of the year. However, on a tight labour market with a record number of unfilled jobs, the rise in unemployment should only be temporary and the labour market should be able to absorb the new unemployed relatively quickly," he added. lin