MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 5 June 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 4 June): BRATISLAVA - A planned referendum on sanctions against Russia can't be declared, President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference on Wednesday. "The Slovak Constitution places the responsibility for ensuring that declarations of referendums are constitutional and lawful on the president. If the president finds that any of the prescribed constitutional and legal conditions for holding a referendum haven't been met, he cannot declare it, and this is the case with the petition that I've been assessing in recent weeks. Therefore, I repeat, the referendum in question simply cannot be declared," stressed Pellegrini. The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement (SHO). The movement wanted the president to announce a referendum with the following question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and businesses?” With the referendum, the movement wanted to put pressure on the Slovak government when negotiating in Brussels. Its representatives claim that sanctions against Russia are harming Slovakia in the form of huge economic losses. Under the Slovak Constitution, the president must call a referendum if at least 350,000 citizens request it via a petition. The president has 30 days from the submission of the petition to do so. For a referendum to be quorate, more than 50 percent of eligible voters must participate, and a majority of those voters must support the proposal. LEVICE/BRATISLAVA - The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) are tabling a bill to ramp up security in schools, former education minister and MP Jan Horecky (KDH) announced on Wednesday in response to an attempted robbery and attack on a teacher at a nursery school in Levice. "We must all come together for this purpose and protect what is most valuable to us — our children, especially young children," he stated. Horecky described the actions of the two men, who attacked a church-run nursery school in broad daylight with the intent to rob, as outrageously cowardly. The presence of small children didn't deter them, and they physically assaulted the teacher. "I am very proud of and sincerely thank the teacher for her bravery in protecting the children above all. I hope that the police will thoroughly investigate this crime and that the relevant authorities will punish the perpetrators in an exemplary manner. After all, there is a difference between someone committing a public disturbance in a fountain on a square and someone bursting into a nursery school full of small children," Horecky emphasised. The attack in Levice has also been condemned by Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD). "I condemn such an attack and trust that the perpetrators will be caught and justly punished," he said. Two as-yet unidentified perpetrators attempted to rob the church-run nursery school in Levice shortly after noon on Monday, 2 June. There were about 20 children and a teacher in the classroom at the time. The teacher caught the men in the act of attempted theft, and the two assaulted and injured her. Viktoria Borlokova, spokesperson for Nitra region police, confirmed that criminal proceedings have been initiated for the offence of public disorder. "It isn't possible to provide further information at this stage of the investigation," she said. PECOVSKA NOVA VES - A big jump in defence spending from 2 to 5 percent of GDP would turn the state budget into a "dog's dinner", said Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) before the government's away-from-home session in Pecovska Nova Ves in Sabinov district (Presov region) on Wednesday. According to Kalinak, industry in Slovakia and in Europe as a whole is not sufficiently geared up to make it possible to re-invest that sort of money. He thinks that it will take Slovakia ten years to reach this goal. "If a majority approves the proposal, Slovakia won't be able to block it, but we will set out on a path that will be tailored to our needs and requirements," said Kalinak, who at the same time pointed to the development of infrastructure. He would like to speak to the Transport Ministry regarding how it would be possible to strengthen the R2 expressway or build a bypass around the town of Sliac (Banska Bystrica region) as part of defence spending. Kalinak thinks that the country could discuss if it should bring about such an increase in seven or ten years. "We want to be responsible in the sense of adding these capabilities in a way that would correspond to Slovakia's tempo. I would prefer ten years," he stated, adding that the decision would be a commitment in line with how serious a partner Slovakia will be in terms of collective defence. President Peter Pellegrini at a summit of leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9) grouping on Monday (2 June) stated that Slovakia doesn't intend to be a country that would prevent consensus in the case of a hike in the defence spending of individual NATO-member states. He noted that according to the proposal, member states should gradually increase their direct defence spending from the current 2 percent of GDP to 3.5 percent. At the same time it would be possible to invest an additional 1.5 percent in so-called dual-purpose investments. BRATISLAVA - The leader of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party and MP Branislav Groehling believes that Slovakia might be at the dawn of a new potential coalition crisis with respect to the decision not to declare a referendum on scrapping sanctions against Russia. Groehling believes that Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko will take potshots at President Peter Pellegrini for not calling the referendum, even though the head of state explained his reasons. "It seems that another coalition crisis is brewing. Danko has strongly supported the referendum, but the president will not call it. Even though he [Pellegrini] provided a proper legal and legislative explanation as to why, I think Danko will start labeling him as some kind of American agent," he remarked. Groehling also commented on the president's appeal to address the issue of verifying the authenticity of signatures on petitions. The SaS leader believes the government should deal with it. Earlier on Wednesday, the president announced that a referendum initiated by the non-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement on scrapping sanctions against Russia cannot be declared. The proposed question — "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders or entrepreneurs?" — contains ambiguities. According to the head of state, the proposal to declare the referendum is not clear, specific or predictable, and so it is unenforceable in practice. BRATISLAVA - I consider President Peter Pellegrini's decision not to declare a referendum on the non-application of sanctions against Russia to be unlawful, Slovak National Party (SNS) leader and Parliamentary vice-chair Andrej Danko told a press conference on Wednesday. Danko believes that if there was doubt about the authenticity of the signatures, the head of state should have approached institutions under the authority of the Interior Ministry, and in the case of suspicions about the legality, he should have approached the Constitutional Court. He stated that an SNS legal team will prepare a legal defence for those who initiated the referendum and invite them to a meeting. He also called on the head of state to reconsider his decision. "I'd like to express my astonishment and clearly declare that we consider the statement and decision of the president to be unlawful. We believe that it will be reviewed by the respective authorities. In a way, I admire the courage of Peter Pellegrini, our president, for feeling able to decide to ignore several hundred thousand signatures. Referendums are the greatest institution in democracy. If 450,000 signatures are collected, then everyone should examine them with due diligence, not take them lightly and make a decision," he stated. The president said on Wednesday that a referendum initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement on lifting sanctions against Russia can't be declared. He sees ambiguities in the requested question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and businesses?". In his view, the proposal for a referendum is not clear, definite or predictable and would therefore be unworkable in practice. mf