MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, May 28, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, May 27): BRATISLAVA - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has heavily criticised a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Germany will consider proposing in Brussels that EU funds to Slovakia should be cut if it continues to deviate from the Union's common direction. The chancellor's statements are unacceptable in the modern Europe, stated Fico during his visit to Armenia on Tuesday. "If someone wants to promote a policy of a single one mandatory opinion, that means the end of democracy in Europe," said Fico. "No one can threaten us here by saying that if we don't obey, they will put us in order," added the premier. According to him, Slovakia's positions are not based on "vanity" or narrow-mindedness, but on the fact that it has its own national interests. BRATISLAVA - We are losing our relationship with European partners on whom Slovakia's security and prosperity depend, opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) leader Michal Simecka told a news conference on Tuesday, lambasting Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for heavily criticising statements by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "Germany is our most important partner, and when such words are uttered by the German chancellor, it's a clear signal of what we in PS have been saying for a long time, that Fico's policies have brought us into absolute isolation. Our partners don't understand us and don't trust us and perceive us to be a problematic state along with Hungary," said Simecka. Simecka reiterated that European partners are a guarantee of security and sovereignty for Slovakia, noting that no significant Western-European statesman wants to meet Fico anymore. "It is one thing to have one's own opinion and another thing to convince European partners and work for Slovakia, as he can say anything, but then the partners will act accordingly, which is detrimental to Slovakia's foreign policy, economy and interests," stated Simecka. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini highlighted the need to modernise local government, calling it the greatest challenge that cannot be ignored, during his speech at the congress of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) on Tuesday, assuring local representatives that they have a reliable partner in the Presidential Palace. "After more than 30 years of a free and democratic Slovakia, the time has come to admit and openly acknowledge that the current way of governing the state and Slovak local administrations can't continue, and that we're facing the greatest task ever set before ZMOS and the state — to prepare the most significant reform of state governance and Slovak local governments in Slovakia's modern history," the president stated. In this context, Pellegrini spoke about overlapping competencies and also mentioned his January meeting with representatives of ZMOS, the Slovak Towns Union (UMS), and the regions. "We held a proper, extensive roundtable lasting over two hours, focusing on the need to prepare a reform of public administration and, more broadly, the governance of the state and local governments," Pellegrini explained. BRATISLAVA - MPs from Voice-SD will propose an amendment to the draft revision of the Slovak Constitution to remove the provision that Slovakia forms a single electoral district for parliamentary election, party leader and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok announced at a press conference on Tuesday, adding that the party is also ready to support President Peter Pellegrini's veto of the proposed special pension for the Prosecutor-General and is open to postponing the vote on the so-called COVID amnesties to September, pending a report from Government Proxy for Investigating COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar. Voice-SD stated that the sentence about a single electoral district was artificially inserted into the Constitution out of fear. The party considers it necessary for people to elect their representatives to Parliament from the regions. "By removing this sentence, we're not changing the electoral system," emphasised House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD), noting that the sentence is already included in the law. Sutaj Estok also stated that he believes it's right for the Constitution to clearly define two genders – male and female. He added that Voice-SD succeeded in including a provision on gender equality in pay for work. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia plans to host a meeting of the Central 5 (C5) informal regional group in September, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) announced following talks with Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon. "We want to remain in this informal format, and that's why the Slovak Republic has accepted the opportunity to organise the C5 summit after Slovenia," the Slovak minister explained. During their meeting, the two officials discussed bilateral relations between Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as their countries' joint engagement in multilateral relations. Both sides confirmed their interest in further cooperation, identifying potential for improvement in areas such as the automotive industry, artificial intelligence, engineering and the defence sector. BRATISLAVA - The News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) issued 250,865 news stories and 730 direct broadcasts in 2024, met all of its legal obligations and ended the year in the black, according to the annual report on TASR's activities and performance in 2024, which was discussed and acknowledged by the parliamentary culture committee on Tuesday. "TASR's revenues totalled €6,790,269, while total expenditures reached €6,407,124. The agency thus showed an end-of-year surplus amounting to €383,135," reads the annual report. The agency released 250,865 multimedia stories in 2024, of which 139,199 were text stories, 14,272 audio recordings, 93,854 photographs and 3,540 video recordings. TASR TV broadcast 732 press conferences live. The TASR board of directors positively evaluated developments in the field of cyber-security, as well as in the area of education via the TASR Academy. ko