MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 20 July 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 19 July): BRATISLAVA - The junior governing Slovak National Party (SNS) will propose a 50-percent cut in the salary of President Peter Pellegrini at the September parliamentary session, SNS spokeswoman Zuzana Skopcova informed TASR on Saturday. The party claims that the aim of its proposal, which would reduce the head of state's salary from €18,000 to €9,000, is to introduce fairness into the remuneration of constitutional officials and to ensure that the president's salary is lower than the one of premier. "SNS believes that the highest salary in Slovakia should be earned by premier, not president," stressed Skopcova. SNS argues that "president only fulfils protocolar duties and, in terms of the scope of rights under the Constitution, cannot have a higher salary than premier." BRATISLAVA - The opposition 'Slovakia' party will back a proposal by the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) to halve the president's salary, calling on other opposition parties to do so as well. "We'll definitely support the proposal to cut the president's salary and we believe that the whole opposition, led by Progressive Slovakia, will do so," party leader Igor Matovic said on Saturday. Matovic noted that his party has submitted a proposal to reduce politicians' salaries several times during the current electoral term. BRATISLAVA - A Slovak company is developing a prototype of one of the first hydrogen-powered aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities, in a project supported by the European Union as a major innovation in the future of green mobility. The H2 VTOL project, led by Tomark Proton, is expected to span six years with a total budget of €64.8 million, the company announced earlier this week. Unveiled in Bratislava, the project includes not only the development of the hydrogen VTOL aircraft, but also the creation and certification of lightweight, recyclable hydrogen tanks and valves for aviation and other transport sectors. „We began development last year. H2 VTOL has the potential not only to replace helicopters in an eco-friendly way but also redefine urban transport and logistics,” said Martin Sedlak, co-owner and director of Tomark Proton. He added that the project has already attracted significant investor interest. WARSAW/BRATISLAVA - An exhibition titled 'Slovak Traces in Poland', organised by the Slovak Embassy in Warsaw, was opened by the Slovak Institute in the Polish capital earlier this week, TASR has learnt from its special correspondent in Warsaw. The exhibition presents 30 interesting facts from the history of Slovak-Polish relations. The event was prepared based on a publication of the same name issued to mark the 30th anniversary of the setting up of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Deputy Slovak Ambassador in Warsaw and the exhibition's co-author Martin Cimerman has told TASR that the aim was to recall the rich cooperation between Slovakia and Poland. The inspiration was similar projects of other embassies and an effort to show what unites the two nations. "We managed to collect a lot of interesting things that often surprised even us," stated Cimerman. ko