MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, May 30, 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, May 29): PEZINOK - The Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region) has found ex-finance minister and Slovakia's central bank (NBS) governor Peter K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] guilty of bribery and imposed a €200,000 fine on him. If he fails to pay the fine, he will spend one year in prison. The court also ordered confiscation of his property amounting to €48,000. The defendant didn't appear to hear the verdict in person. The prosecutor has kept the deadline for filing an appeal. Peter K.'s lawyer said he will recommend that his client should appeal against the verdict. "It doesn't make sense to make up such a trivial case," stated judge Milan Cisarik about the defence's tactics. He also said that most of the defence's arguments concerned the statute of limitations and halting a criminal prosecution. However, the proceedings couldn't be halted, as EU funds and value-added tax were at stake, stated the judge. When imposing the fine, the court took into account the governor's income and the amount of the bribe given. BRATISLAVA - Jozef Migas will become the Slovak Ambassador to Belarus, the Foreign Affairs Ministry's communications department has told TASR, adding that he already served in the post between 2016-2020. In his diplomatic career, Migas specialises in Eastern European countries, gaining many years of experience from working in the post-Soviet region not only as the Slovak ambassador to Belarus, but also to Ukraine and Russia. As the House chair, Migas also temporarily exercised presidential powers, which at that time included carrying out Slovak foreign policy, said the ministry. "The Slovak Republic is interested in pragmatic cooperation with every country in the world. We therefore want to resume a constructive dialogue with the Belarusians, both at bilateral and multilateral levels, as today it's necessary to give space to diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations in order to achieve the first results, for example, in the extremely important peace negotiations and the earliest possible end to the war in Ukraine," said Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD). BRATISLAVA - The Defence Ministry, led by Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), is funding the expenditures of other ministries, which means that those funds are then lacking for other defence-related purposes, opposition lawmakers warned in Parliament on Thursday. Tomas Valasek (Progressive Slovakia) pointed to personnel shortages in most units of the armed forces. Juraj Krupa (SaS) questioned what funds are being allocated to NATO objectives, while Gabor Grendel ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU alliance) also drew attention to overpriced contracts and reconstructions. The opposition made these remarks in connection with Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) visit to the Defence Ministry for an inspection day. "What the defence minister and deputy prime minister has actually managed to achieve in roughly a year in office is to bring chaos into modernisation efforts, to drain money from the ministry that should have gone toward defence, to demoralise people who might have been interested in joining the active forces or reserves, and to isolate us from the allies that we will absolutely need for our own defence," said Valasek at a press conference. BRATISLAVA - On Thursday afternoon, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini departed for an official visit to Montenegro at the invitation of his counterpart, Jakov Milatovic, TASR learnt on the same day. The President is accompanied by Economy Minister Denisa Sakova, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Rastislav Chovanec, as well as representatives from the academic and business sectors. This marks the first visit of a Slovak head of state to Montenegro in nearly 14 years and serves as a reciprocal visit following the 2021 trip of former Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic to Bratislava. The main goal of President Pellegrini’s working visit is to express support for Montenegro’s accession to the European Union and to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in the economic sphere. The talks will also focus on current developments in the Western Balkans region, the security situation in Europe, and preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in the Hague. BUDAPEST/BRATISLAVA - The abolition of the right of veto in the European Union and the punishment of countries advocating for sovereignty could become a new Iron Curtain, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest. TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent in Budapest. Fico, speaking at the conference that was broadcast live on the website cpacHungary.com, noted that unprecedented decisions may follow as part of EU reforms. „The strength of the European Union lies in its ability to compromise, in the climate of mutual respect, and in the ability to collectively reject dictatorships,” the Slovak prime minister said, adding that abolishing the right of veto would mark a departure from democracy and the end of the common European project. „The war in Ukraine must end; it is weakening us in every way,” Fico added, stating that this requires communication with all parties involved, including Russia. lin