MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, May 26, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, May 25): BRATISLAVA - MPs for the coalition Voice-SD party won't vote for overriding of President Peter Pellegrini's veto in Parliament, Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) said on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday. Drucker reacted in this way to a question as to how will Voice-SD MPs approach the vetoed bills on the so-called COVID amnesties and life annuity for the prosecutor-general. "I think that Mr. president demonstrated that he is an independent institution also in this respect. He came up with his own argumentation and we kind of identified with it," said Drucker, adding that Voice-SD leader Matus Sutaj Estok has definitely spoken about it with Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD). His opponent on the show, opposition MP Ivan Stefunko (Progressive Slovakia/PS) said that MPs for PS won't back breaking of the veto, either. BRATISLAVA - The total of €1.34 million was collected during the 29th annual Daffodil Day, a fundraising organised by the League against Cancer, the league's CEO Eva Kovacova announced at a news conference earlied this week, adding that the definitive sum will be known after the SMS donations are calculated and added. "It is with great gratitude, great humility, but also great responsibility that we say that we were surprised by this year's beautiful yield, which even surpassed last year's record sum. It's surprising for us, as we know how difficult the times we are living in are," said Kovacova, adding that Daffodil Day is once again proof that people still preserve the value of humanity and haven't given up on it. BRATISLAVA - The state will refund the cost of the €800 bonuses for public administration employees to towns, villages and regions, Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) chairman Jozef Bozik told a new conference held following the association's meeting with Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and other ministers on Sunday. "We agreed that the money that should go for the €800 bonuses, plus levies, will be settled in line with the methodology proposed by ZMOS," said Bozik, stressing the readiness to adopt a resolution at the upcoming ZMOS congress authorising him to sign a higher-level collective agreement. Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) specified that refunding the bonuses will cost the state €114 million. "It is worth it for us to have social reconciliation, it is worth it to have higher-level collective agreements signed, so we've agreed with local governments that we will exceptionally compensate them for the payment of the €800 bonuses in 2025," explained Kamenicky. BRATISLAVA - Construction of the above-ground part of the national hospital in Bratislava's borough of Vajnory will be checked by the Finance Ministry's Value for Money Section (UHP), Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) said on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, declaring that it will be a transparent procedure. Meanwhile, opposition MP Tomas Szalay (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS), also on the show, thinks that the hospital's construction will be non-transparent. This is the reason why it can be built quickly, he said. Szalay pointed out that the hospital's construction will exceed one electoral term. Therefore, he criticised the government for failure to discuss the issue with anyone before deciding on the construction site. He also sees the hospital's financing as problematic. Szalay believes that the government should also seek external resources of its financing, such as EU funds or the European Investment Bank (EIB). BRATISLAVA - Voting for the 17th package of sanctions against Russia was in line with the government manifesto, Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) said on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday. Blanar stressed that the coalition parties committed in the manifesto to supporting sanctions as long as they don't violate Slovakia's interests. He thinks that coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko, who criticised the minister for supporting the sanctions, must understand this as well. Blanar said that he has communicated the issue with Danko and will continue to do so. "The definition is clear: as long as the sanctions don't harm the interests of Slovakia, meaning its economy or living standards of its citizens, we will vote for them," explained Blanar, adding that all the coalition parties gave him the mandate to back the sanctions by signing the government manifesto. The sanctions are always communicated in advance with the ministries concerned, he said. At the same time, Blanar respects that Danko wanted to express his political stance on the issue. "We are ready to discuss those things," said the minister. BRATISLAVA - Speaking on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) denied that the coalition would plan to trigger a snap election after the next year's budget is passed in Parliament, as claimed by representatives of the opposition 'Slovakia' party. "This is absolute nonsense, no such debates are taking place. What we want to focus on is preparing a high-quality budget and, of course, stabilising the tasks that are ahead of us," said Drucker. His opponent on the show, opposition MP Ivan Stefunko (Progressive Slovakia/PS) criticised the coalition for not providing targeted assistance concerning, for example, energy price caps. Stefunko also criticised the governing parties for the low investment influx in Slovakia and the country's economic situation. lin