SUMMARY - Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 10 p.m.

Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - If general elections had been held in April, Progressive Slovakia (PS) would have won with 20.9 percent of the vote, followed by the Smer-SD party, supported by 19.1 percent of voters, according to a Focus agency poll conducted for the 360tka news portal. https://etasr.sk/article/22099921 Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - The proposal by Prime Minister and Smer-SD party leader Robert Fico to reduce the number of municipalities and self-governing regions is seen by Jozef Bozik, president of the Association of Slovak Towns and Villages (ZMOS), as a political opinion within the broader discussion on fiscal consolidation. https://etasr.sk/article/22099873 Rabat/Bratislava, May 22 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia wants to strengthen its relations with the Kingdom of Morocco, which is not only its most important strategic partner in Africa but also shares common views on many issues, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) stated during his official visit to Morocco on Thursday, as reported by TASR's special correspondent. https://etasr.sk/article/22099829 Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - The budget for next year should be addressed in a different way than by raising taxes, coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko declared on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22099785 Bratislava/Banska Bystrica, May 22 (TASR) - A pre-trial judge of the Specialized Criminal Court has decided to put three defendants in custody with respect to suspected activity of a neo-Nazi group operating in the Bratislava area, TASR learnt from court spokesperson Katarina Kudjakova on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22099675 Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - Chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Andrej Danko has no issue with increasing the election deposit for candidate parties and supports the so-called democratization of political parties, TASR learnt on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22099550 Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - The proposals by Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) regarding the adjustment of state contributions and the increase of election deposits favor parties that can “earn money with their own head” [a reference to an alleged funding scandal involving Smer-SD -ed.note] or obtain funds by questionable means, oppositions's MP Veronika Remisova (Slovakia-For the People-KU alliance) declared on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22099037 Bratislava, 22 May (TASR) - Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) on Thursday dismissed Gustav Murin from his position as acting director general of the Slovak Literary Centre (SLC), TASR learnt from the ministry's communications department head Petra Bacinska on the same day. https://etasr.sk/article/22098732 Bratislava, May 22 (TASR) - The proposal to raise the electoral threshold needed for a party to enter parliament to 7 percent and to restrict who can run in elections is an attack on the foundations of democratic pluralism in Slovakia, declared Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader Branislav Groehling on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22098729 Bratislava, 22 May (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) considers Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) comments on potential changes to the political system to be an attempt to cover up his government's inability to govern responsibly, but it stated that it is ready to engage in a serious and expert discussion if one is genuinely proposed, TASR learnt from KDH's communications department on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/22098671 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. mf