MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 14 June 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 13 June): BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini is carrying out the mission of the head of state, acts in a balanced manner, and is a stabilising element for society, cabinet ministers have concurred when evaluating Pellegrini's first year in office. "I perceive his work very positively. He can express his opinion on both sides. This is how a president should function," stressed Vice-premier and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD). Another Vice-premier, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) also evaluates Pellegrini's performance in the post very positively. "He carries out his mandate autonomously, exactly like he declared he would do, he isn't an intermediary for the opposition in the fight against the government. On the other hand, he's able to say things that are not in line with the government at all, but that's how a president should be," emphasised Taraba, who also appreciates the respect that Pellegrini enjoys abroad. BRATISLAVA - Slovak diplomacy is working intensively on the security of its citizens and employees in the Middle East region, said Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) in reaction to the escalation in tension between Israel and Iran, the Foreign Affairs Ministry's communications department has informed TASR. "In connection with the current situation in the Middle East, Slovakia has called on all parties concerned to show maximum restraint and to focus on de-escalation through diplomacy and dialogue. The region urgently needs peace and stability," said Blanar. The minister said that neither he, nor diplomatic missions have been contacted by Slovak nationals with a request for help yet. "There are Slovak citizens in the Middle East region at the moment, both citizens who have lived there for a long time in mixed marriages and tourists on short-term trips," said Blanar. BRATISLAVA - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) doesn't think that a provision on a single (nationwide) electoral district would be dropped from the Constitution, Fico himself told a news conference following an inspection day at the Culture Ministry on Friday, adding that he knows the situation in Parliament. "I assume that such a proposal will be submitted, as MPs have the right to do so either in a parliamentary committee, or directly in a plenary session. But as far as I know Slovak reality, this provision won't be dropped from the Slovak Constitution," he said, adding that he mainly dealt with cultural and ethical issues in the draft amendment to the Slovak Constitution. BRATISLAVA - The fundamental pillars of Slovakia's vision for its long-term development should be shaped with the help of a 'Summit on the Future of Slovakia', a series of cross-party discussions held under the auspices of the president, President Peter Pellegrini has said in an interview for TASR TV. "We held a major round-table discussion on public administration reform. A few days ago, I hosted a major round-table discussion on modern technologies and artificial intelligence," said the president. Pellegrini would like to launch such a series of discussions in the final part of this year. "Some time in the autumn or at the end of the year, I'd like to organise a round of talks, perhaps starting with one large meeting in Bratislava, followed by at least eight regional meetings. I'll call it the Summit on the Future of Slovakia," stated the president, who intends to continue the debates throughout next year. "I want us to discuss without political labels what the three or four basic pillars of the vision up to 2035 should be, and to reach consensus on them," he added. BRATISLAVA - The Culture Ministry is progressing at a relatively fast pace in fulfilling the tasks set out in the government’s manifesto, currently reaching around 50 percent, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said after a working session with Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) at the ministry on Friday. “The monitoring system we have at the Government Office shows that the pace at which the Culture Ministry is fulfilling its tasks is already at nearly 50 percent, and we’re still not even halfway through our term. (...) I can say with great satisfaction that, as with other ministries, the pace of task completion at the Culture Ministry is higher than expected, as we should currently be somewhere around 35 to 40 percent,” the Prime Minister said, thanking Simkovicova. BRATISLAVA - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) plans to meet with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, following a phone call on Friday, TASR learnt from Fico’s social media post on the same day. “We exchanged views with Mr Stocker on the European Commission’s plan to stop importing gas, oil, and nuclear fuel from Russia to Europe,” Fico said. He also stated that he had proposed an informal meeting to the Austrian Federal Chancellor, which could take place in the coming days, either in Slovakia or Austria. “The Chancellor agreed to my proposal for the meeting,” Fico said. BRATISLAVA - Representatives of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, including party leader Michal Simecka, met with Czech President Petr Pavel in Prague on Friday to discuss Czech-Slovak relations, with PS stating it is ready to do everything possible to restore the damaged ties, TASR learnt from the party’s media department on the same day. Simecka stated that the state of relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia is saddening. According to him, PS representatives and the Czech president agreed that everything possible must be done to repair the ties. “People in Slovakia are already tired of the constant conflicts between our politicians and close EU partners, which are being unnecessarily provoked by Robert Fico’s (Smer-SD) government. Restoring these relations will be one of the top foreign policy priorities of our future government,” said the PS leader. BRATISLAVA - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok met on Friday in Belgrade with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic to discuss combating illegal migration, organised crime and drugs, cooperation within the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), as well as exchanging experience in civil protection, crisis management, and police and fire service collaboration, TASR has learnt from the Slovak ministry’s press department. "Our cooperation is strong, and we remain committed to strengthening it further. Serbia deserves great credit for its fight against illegal migration, and thanks to this effort, the Schengen area has been protected and migration flows have shifted. This also helps to safeguard our border," said the Slovak interior minister. BRATISLAVA - Slovak MPs should not adopt constitutional changes that weaken the general protection of human rights or the rights of specific groups in society, said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty on Friday, urging the Slovak MPs to uphold the principles of the rule of law and human rights for all people in Slovakia. O’Flaherty explained that Slovak Parliament will, in the coming days, debate in second reading the proposed constitutional amendments submitted by the government, which passed their first reading on 9 April 2025. „These amendments have raised concerns of the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, the Public Defender of Rights, civil society, and various legal experts. Furthermore, just today (13 June 2025), further proposals to amend the Constitution were put forward, which give rise to additional grave human rights concerns,“ said the commissioner. lin