SUMMARY - Monday, May 19, 2025 - 9 p.m.

Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) by telephone on Monday to take action so that the Slovak government will change its stance and not demand a vote on the pandemic agreement that is set to be held in the evening, TASR has learnt from Fico's post on a social network. https://etasr.sk/article/22083698 Beijing, 19 May (TASR) - During his visit to China on Monday, Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) met with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji, TASR has learnt from Xinhua News Agency and the Slovak Parliament Office's communications department on Monday. https://etasr.sk/article/22084183 Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - By not accepting the pandemic agreement, the government has clearly decided to omit scientific facts and follow an ideology of subversion and promote conspiracies, the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) pointed out in a statement on Monday, adding that Slovakia will thus lose access to the most up-to-date findings in the fight against global epidemics and diseases https://etasr.sk/article/22084437 Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) has called on President Peter Pellegrini to take back his negotiating power in relation to the pandemic agreement, the PS media department told TASR on Monday, adding that if he informs the government of this decision, its representative won't be able to make a statement or call for a special vote at the World Health Organisation (WHO) congress. https://etasr.sk/article/22084346 Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) should have had a plan for reforming civil protection ready after a year and a half in office, but instead he announced on Monday that he's going to create one, said former interior minister and MP Roman Mikulec ('Slovakia', 'For the People', KU caucus) in response to the Sutaj Estok's press conference on a reform of the state's crisis management, TASR was told by spokesman for the 'Slovakia' party Matus Bystriansky. https://etasr.sk/article/22083969 Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - The central crisis management team is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (20 May) to discuss the foot-and-mouth outbreaks and to assess the current state of the disease in Slovakia, said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) on Monday. https://etasr.sk/article/22083771 Bratislava, May 19 (TASR) - Our coalition partners have prioritised political gain over facts when it comes to the pandemic agreement, said Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) on Monday, adding that the government's proposal to vote against the agreement will bring no benefit to Slovakia, TASR learnt from the ministry's communications department on the same day. https://etasr.sk/article/22083722 Bratislava, May 19 (TASR) - The Slovak government could not have decided to reject the pandemic agreement without meeting because Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) stated on Monday that the ministers of the Voice-SD party did not vote against the agreement, meaning that the government was not united, which is a requirement for adopting a resolution in this form, opposition 'Slovakia' party leader Igor Matovic stated at a press conference on Monday, citing the government's rules of procedure. https://etasr.sk/article/22083560 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. am