MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, 25 June 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, 24 June): BRATISLAVA - Together with other countries of NATO, Slovakia managed to negotiate an extension of the deadline for achieving the defence spending goal of five percent of GDP from the original five to ten years - until 2035, President Peter Pellegrini stated at the M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava before departing for the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday. According to Pellegrini, Slovakia insists on reaching a consensus among all member countries of the Alliance. „If all members at the table on Wednesday agree with the final declaration, Slovakia won't block its adoption as the only country," Pellegrini emphasised, adding that Slovakia's position stems from a consensus. The President underlined that he had also consulted the government's stance on the matter. In Pellegrini's view, Slovakia continues to insist on the extended deadline within which the goals are actually achievable, and the country reserves the right to its sovereignty - to decide itself on whether or not its public finances will allow it to increase defence spending. „If they do, Slovakia will primarily prefer spending on dual-use projects such as infrastructure improvement." BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is convinced that any goal NATO is going to approve on Tuesday will never be fulfilled "down to the last detail" and reiterated that every country has the right to set its own pace and structure of defence spending, TASR learnt on the same day. Speaking with respect to the ongoing NATO summit in the Hague, Fico declared that Slovakia can meet the capabilities - expected within NATO - even on the existing budget of the Slovak Defence Ministry. „Slovakia has the sovereign right to decide what pace and what structure of defence spending we will have in our plan. At the same time, we guarantee that the two percent currently in the budget is sufficient to fulfil the capabilities that the NATO expects from us," Fico stated. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia will not give its thumbs-up to the 18th package of EU's sanctions against Russia - if the issue of the EU’s REPowerEU initiative is not resolved first, as, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), the initiative could negatively impact energy prices in Slovakia, TASR learnt from the Prime Minister's press conference in Bratislava on Tuesday. „If they tell us they won't postpone anything and want to adopt this ideological nonsense, I see no reason why Slovakia should support the 18th sanctions package. That's it. It's very simple – we also need to have some levers and tools to achieve our goals," Fico emphasized. According to Fico, the initiative would have a significantly negative impact on Slovak households and industry. He also criticized the fact that the proposal includes ending gas imports from Russia without compensation in the event of a loss in arbitration. VIENNA - Slovak Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) met Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker in Vienna on Tuesday, TASR learnt from the Government Office's press department on the same day. The officials during their meeting agreed that the common goal of both countries is a strong, resilient and safe European Union. This was their first bilateral meeting. Fico called the relationship between Slovakia and Austria a success story of cooperation that has been lasting for more than three decades. He thanked the Austrian chancellor for his openness and partnership approach. "Slovakia values ​​friendly relations with Austria. We are interested in continuing to develop cross-border projects, for example in the field of transport and energy infrastructure or in cooperation between emergency medical services," said Fico. BRATISLAVA/SKALICA - Zuzana Mesterova has become a new head of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) caucus, PS media department has informed TASR, adding that she was elected for the post during the party's away-from-home talks held in the town of Skalica (Trnava region) on Tuesday. "I am glad that the PS caucus approved my proposal to elect Zuzana Mesterova as its head at its meeting in Skalica. I'm also pleased that a woman is assuming this post, which could eventually inspire other political parties," noted PS leader and MP Michal Simecka. Mesterova thanked caucus members for their trust. She said that she wants PS to continue to be a vigilant, active, and tough opposition. She said that PS MPs are not going on vacation, but will prepare themselves for the September parliamentary session. "We will closely monitor the government's steps, meet people in regions and work on replacing Robert Fico's government after the next election," she said. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's central bank (NBS) has worsened its forecast for economic growth in Slovakia by almost half compared to the spring prediction, NBS governor Peter Kazimir told a news conference on Tuesday. In line with the latest NBS prognosis, Slovakia's GDP should grow by 1.2 percent this year. Inflation should reach some 4 percent. "We're revising our forecast for economic growth down by almost half, as we estimate the GDP growth to be only slightly over 1 percent this year. If you remember, our original forecast was about 2 percent. If you remember even further back, last year we talked about a possible GDP growth of 3 percent in 2025," said Kazimir. The worsening of GDP outlook mainly results from the incorporation of higher tariffs in global trade into the current forecast. In the spring, it still wasn't clear how the situation with the threats of the United States to introduce tariffs would develop and how the affected countries would react, explained NBS experts. The current geopolitical situation should also have a negative impact. The Slovak economy is also being weakened by the necessary consolidation of public finances. ko