MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 19 July 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 18 July): BRUSSELS - EU-member states approved the 18th package of sanctions against Russia on Friday, after Slovakia allowed its adoption following Premier Robert Fico’s announcement that the country received sufficient guarantees from the European Commission (EC) regarding the plan to halt Russian gas imports to the EU. „The EU has just approved one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia,“ EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed on the X network afterwards. The 18th set of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine is set to hit Moscow's revenues from the energy and military sectors, with the adopted measures including a lowered price cap on Russian oil and a ban on trade with companies operating the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Kallas stated. „We're increasing pressure on Russia's military industry, Chinese banks that allow sanctions to be evaded, and blocking the export of technology used in drones. We'll keep raising costs so that ending aggression becomes becomes Moscow’s only option,“ Kallas noted. BRATISLAVA - The coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) is disappointed that Slovakia supported the 18th package of sanctions aganist Russia, party leader Andrej Danko stated on Friday. "Never in the history of the European Union [EU] has such pressure been exerted by the prime ministers of other European countries. It's deeply worrying that the EU continues to pursue an anti-European policy. Instead of realising that it can't prosper without cheap energy prices, it continues its destabilising process," said Danko. "It's clear that in the future we'll only be able to cope with the pressure placed on Slovakia through unity. SNS will do everything possible to reverse the decision to cut off Russian energy. Without Russian nuclear fuel, gas and oil, it's impossible for Slovakia or the EU to maintain their competitiveness with powers such as China, the USA or the Russian Federation," he said. Danko stated that in the context of the Green Deal and cutting off Russian raw materials, the EU can't remain competitive. At the same time, SNS expressed regret that Slovak President Peter Pellegrini didn't support Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on the issue. The 18th package of sanctions against Russia was approved by ambassadors of the EU-member states on Friday morning and then adopted by the Council of the EU. Created in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's set to hit Moscow's revenues from the energy and military sectors, with the adopted measures including a lowered price cap on Russian oil and a ban on trade with companies operating the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. BRATISLAVA/BRUSSELS - Slovakia's blocking of the approval of the 18th sanctions package against Russia was crucial in reaching an agreement on the European Commission’s plan to stop Russian gas imports, with Slovakia negotiating energy security guarantees, the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry's communications department quoted Minister Juraj Blanar as stating on Friday. „They were challenging negotiations with resistance to pressure from several member states, but we didn't back down. In the next negotiations on the European Commission's legislative proposal on the so-called REPowerEU, we'll point to the harmful effects of this proposal not only for Slovakia, but also for the competitiveness of the entire European Union,“ said Blanar. The 18th package of sanctions against Russia was approved by ambassadors of the EU-member states on Friday morning. The 18th set of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine is set to hit Moscow's revenues from the energy and military sectors, with the adopted measures including a lowered price cap on Russian oil and a ban on trade with companies operating the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. BRATISLAVA – The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party reaffirmed on Thursday that Maria Kolikova remains its sole nominee for the post of chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS). "Kolikova was, is, and will be our candidate," said SaS in a statement for TASR, reacting to a coalition agreement to support opposition candidates for committee chairs — provided that they haven't previously been dismissed by Parliament. "We in SaS are not politically naive enough to go along with this game. The coalition first fabricated absurd reasons to dismiss Kolikova, smeared her at press conferences and ultimately removed her in contradiction with reality and long-standing democratic practices," the party stated. SaS expressed concern that any future nominee that it puts forward could be similarly "vetted and dismissed" simply because the coalition has the power to do so. The party warned that this could serve as a tactic to divert attention from more pressing issues. The party also demanded an apology from current Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent), claiming that he played a key role as an MP in Kolikova's removal and used manipulative tactics that he later condemned when they were used against him. Kolikova was removed from the helm of the House committee for supervision of SIS in June of last year, along with Michal Sipos ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU alliance), who chaired the committee on public administration and regional development. Both dismissals were initiated by coalition MPs. House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) recently told TASR that the coalition is ready to support opposition candidates for these roles — apart from those who were previously removed from them. mf