SUMMARY - Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 9 p.m.

Bratislava/Rome, May 18 (TASR) - Following his inaugural mass in the Vatican, during a brief exchange with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, Pope Leo XIV expressed great hope that he would be able to visit Slovakia during his pontificate one day, TASR learnt from the President's Office on the same day. https://etasr.sk/article/22079059 Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) - Speaking on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday, opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka said his party intends to run independently in the next general election and does not plan to form alliances with other parties, adding that while it is important to ensure opposition votes are not wasted, this is not a question for PS but the responsibility of parties whose support in opinion polls is close to the electoral threshold. https://etasr.sk/article/22079507 Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) - In response to Prime Minister Robert Fico's comments on Sunday, MP Gabor Grendel ('Slovakia-For the People-KU') stated that the government pretends to be consolidating, but is actually only focused on itself, adding that under the previous government, Slovakia's economy performed better than the EU average. https://etasr.sk/article/22079593 Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) - The Union of Slovak Road Hauliers (UNAS) is entering into protests, demanding a reduction in the tax and fee burden on hauliers and criticising the lack of success in negotiations with various ministries, while also calling on the road hauliers' association Cesmad Slovakia to support the protests, UNAS chairman Stanislav Skala has told TASR, adding that the time and place of the protest will be announced later. https://etasr.sk/article/22079722 NOTICE: If you click on the link or copy it into the search window, the browser will display the full text of the message in the new e-TASR client zone. If you have any questions, please contact obchod@tasr.sk. lin