MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, May 16, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, May 15): BRATISLAVA - The amount of hate speech in society has increased by over 200 percent a year after the assassination attempt on Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), the security and intelligence services informed the Security Council at its session on Thursday, House Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) told a news conference following the session. Gaspar announced that the security forces haven been keeping an eye on a man who wanted to come to the town of Handlova (Trencin region), where the government will hold its away-from-home session on Thursday afternoon. According to him, he's made several hate-fuelled posts on social networks that politicians presented at a news conference. "I want to draw your attention to this badge on the clothing of a person who threatened Robert Fico in a video. It's a badge that can unequivocally be called an extremist symbol, a fascist symbol of the Edelweiss assault unit, which you all know as an anti-partisan unit that fought against those who were liberating Slovakia or who fought in the Slovak National Uprising [during WWII]," said Gaspar. According to information available to Gaspar, the man is a member of the extra-parliamentary 'Democrats' party. BRATISLAVA - Statements being made by representatives of the Smer-SD party are grossly deceptive and constitute manipulative propaganda aimed at causing political harm to the 'Democrats' party, 'Democrats' spokesperson Martina Kakascikova stated on Thursday. Kakascikova spoke in response to Thursday's press conference held by Smer-SD, during which Prime Minister Robert Fico and House Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar presented a photo from public protests of a man with an Ukrainian flag and a shepherd's axe, stating that they believe he might be a member of 'Democrats', while linking the opposition with fascism. Fico and Gaspar blamed the opposition and media for an increase of hatred and polarisation in society. "The video in question is deliberately edited and taken out of context," emphasised the 'Democrats' spokesperson. She denied that the person that Smer representatives referred to has called for the physical liquidation of Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). "The speech referred to the political end of the prime minister and his government," Kakascikova pointed out. BRATISLAVA - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) was treated for more than 42 days for the injuries that he sustained in last year's assassination attempt in Handlova (Trencin region), according to the draft indictment filed against shooter Juraj C. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons), which TASR has obtained on the basis of the information law. The extent of the injuries has been left out of the indictment. According to the charges, the accused allegedly acted "in a way as meant to permanently prevent the victim from continuing to perform the post of prime minister, thereby preventing the government from functioning properly and fulfilling its manifesto". BRATISLAVA - Police have charged a man wielding a shepherd's axe with incitement, after he allegedly threatened Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in a video, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) announced in his social media post on Thursday. The same charges have been pressed against another individual as well. According to the police, the accused are a 47-year-old man identified only as P. L. and a 65-year-old man, P. P. "In the first case, the accused man publicly incited the committing of a criminal offense or serious disturbance of public order in a video. In the second case, an identified social media user called for the physical elimination of a constitutional official by shooting," the Police Corps Presidium stated. It added that no further details can be provided at this stage of the investigation. BRATISLAVA - The study of dentistry at the Jessenius Medical Faculty of Comenius University in Martin (Zilina region) and the Faculty of Medicine of Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice will be shortened from six to five years, and a modified study programme will be introduced as of the 2025/2026 academic year, TASR was told by the Education, Research, Development and Youth Ministry's communications department on Wednesday. Similar modifications await the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Bratislava and the Faculty of Medicine of the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava in the future. "The new study programmes reflect current trends in dentistry and the requirements for graduates. With this change, we're also making our medical faculties in Europe more competitive," said Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD). State Secretary for higher education and academic research Robert Zsembera added that the shortening of the dentistry study programme is the result of long-term processes. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's gross domestic product (GDP) in fixed prices grew by 0.9 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2025, according to a preliminary estimate released by the Statistics Office on Thursday. Seasonally adjusted, GDP rose by 1 percent in yearly terms, while quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), it increased by 0.2 percent. GDP volume in current prices rose by €0.9 billion y-o-y to reach €31.1 billion. When calculated in fixed prices, GDP amounted to €24.2 billion, which is an increase of €208 million y-o-y. Overall employment reached almost 2.412 million people and saw a y-o-y decrease of 0.3 percent. ko