MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, April 15): BRATISLAVA - Measures aimed against the spread of foot-and-mouth disease were issued based on the one-sided opinions of Chief Veterinary Officer Martin Chudy, going beyond EU regulations, and this will have significant negative consequences for Slovak food production, said Tourism and Sport Minister Rudolf Huliak (Independent) at a press conference on Tuesday, calling for Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) to dismiss Chudy. BRATISLAVA - The Office for Combating Organised Crime (UBOK) has requested evidence from the Government Office regarding alleged suspicions of non-transparent and unlawful handling of European funds by non-governmental organisations The League for Mental Health and The Open Society Foundation, which coalition representatives reported at a press conference on Monday (April 14), TASR learnt from the Government Office on Tuesday. The NGOs in question have denied any wrongdoing. BRATISLAVA - The nomination of Peter Grutka and Adriana Tomicova to the Council of the Arts Support Fund (FPU) was not in accordance with the law, the Open Culture platform stated at a press conference on Tuesday after a prosecutor had supported their stance. In January and February, the platform requested that the Prosecutor-General's Office should verify whether Grutka's and Tomicova's nominations met the legal requirement of at least five years of experience in the field of culture, which is mandatory for candidates for the FPU Council. "According to publicly available information, this prerequisite wasn't met, and the prosecutor agreed with our arguments, filing a complaint on April 1 against the actions of Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (an SNS nominee ) and the appointment of both council members,” said lawyer Michal Liptak, who cooperates with Open Culture. BRATISLAVA - The Council of the Arts Support Fund (FPU) has repeatedly requested cooperation from the fund’s director, Robert Spotak, to speed up the processing of applications in the folklore events support programme, and, at the same time, it admits that a different solution may be necessary, Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (an SNS nominee) and members of the FPU Council declared at a press conference on Tuesday. "The current situation in the folklore events support programme is the result of the director's inaction and, at the same time, his direct interference, which aims to disable the functioning of the fund," stated the culture minister, who sees media accusations against the ministry as an attempt to discredit the ministry leadership. She also questioned what sense it would make for the ministry itself to engage in actions that would hinder support for a sector that it claims to be one of its priorities. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) rejects the claims made by Government Proxy for Investigating COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar, underlining that it doesn't consider Kotlar to be an authority in the given field, TASR learnt from head of the Chamber's secretariat Daniela Vozarikova on Tuesday. "The SLK presidium strongly rejects the claims made by Government Proxy Kotlar, which he has not supported with any scientific evidence to date. At the same time, we do not consider him to be an authority in the field, as he doesn't meet the required qualifications," SLK stated in its official release. BRATISLAVA - Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) has rejected information from the opposition that child benefits are set to be reduced or scrapped as part of financial consolidation measures. MPs from the 'Slovakia', 'For the People', KU caucus said earlier on Tuesday that the Finance Ministry is considering reducing the allowance from €60 to €30 per month, or taking it away from families with students over the age of 18. Currently, they can receive child benefit until they reach the age of 25 if they are still studying. BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has objected to the words of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who warned EU leaders against visiting Moscow on the occasion of the Victory Day celebrations in May, describing them as disrespectful and announcing that he'll attend the visit to Moscow, TASR was told by the Government Office's press and information department on Tuesday. "Ms Kallas, I'd like to inform you that I'm the legitimate premier of Slovakia - a sovereign country. No one can tell me where I should or shouldn't travel. I'll go to Moscow to pay my respects to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died in the liberation of Slovakia, as well as to millions of other victims of the Nazi rampage. Just as I paid my tribute to the victims of the Normandy landings or the Pacific landings, or as I'll pay my respects to the RAF pilots," Fico responded. BRATISLAVA - The tax on financial transactions can't be scrapped even partially due to consolidation, and exempting sole traders and small entrepreneurs from this tax would mean a significant loss of state budget revenues of up to €200 million, said Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) on Tuesday in response to criticism of the tax and calls for it to be modified. "I want to call on the coalition partners, both in Parliament and in the government - let's not help Progressive Slovakia get into power, let's not help progressivism," stressed the finance minister. lin