MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 21 July 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 20 July): TRNAVA - PCA Slovakia's intention to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) with an output of 25 megawatts and a capacity of 49.74 megawatt hours on the premises of Trnava-based carmaker Stellantis Slovakia will not be subject to assessment under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act, according to a legally binding decision issued by the Environment Ministry's Environmental Impact Assessment Department and published on the ministry's website. The battery storage system will house ten battery containers and ten transformer and inverter containers. The project should be implemented in conjunction with the planned construction of a local photovoltaic facility with a total output of almost 36 megawatts. "The BESS system enables the efficient use of surplus energy from renewable sources by storing it at times of lower consumption and subsequent use during peak times, which leads to optimisation of the energy mix and reduction of the need for electricity generation from fossil fuels," reads the notice on change of the proposed activity. Battery storage represents one of the key tools for achieving carbon neutrality and meeting the European Union's climate goals between 2030 and 2050. Serial production at the Trnava-based automotive plant began in 2006. In 2019, it became the first of the former Groupe PSA plants to start producing batteries for electric vehicles. The carmaker currently generates some 3,700 direct jobs. MARGECANY - The state took a responsible approach to the windstorm that took place early last week, causing damages in several parts of eastern Slovakia, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) told a news conference in Margecany (Kosice region) on Saturday (19 July), rejecting claims that the state didn't act as it should have. "Immediately after the occurrence of this natural disaster, a field group of the Interior Ministry's crisis management section was activated, which participated in meetings of crisis management staffs in the affected regions, provided support to local governments and guidance in coordinating the crisis," stated Sutaj Estok, adding that material and technical aid was provided, too. He also thanked the professional and volunteer firefighters. The minister said that total damages caused by the windstorm currently amount to some €1 million and that they want to provide financial aid as soon as possible. He reiterated that the affected residents are eligible for humanitarian aid from the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry up to €1,500. Up to date, it has been provided to 190 households and another 56 applications are being assessed. Sutaj Estok urged citizens and local governments to apply for such aid as soon as possible if they are eligible for it. Concerning the reimbursement of the cost of rescue work, the deadline to submit applications will expire on Wednesday (23 July). "As soon as all the documents are complete and checked by the crisis management section, the material will be submitted to the government. Despite the fact that the government has 'a summer break' until August 20, I will contact the premier so that the government can decide on the payment of this financial aid per rollam [with government members not being physically present on one place-ed.note]," he said. At the same time he stressed that property insurance should not be underestimated. Eastern Slovakia was hit by strong winds and rain early last week, causing huge material damage to residents' property, infrastructure and transport networks. Dozens of towns and villages declared the state of emergency. BRATISLAVA - Voice-SD MPs will support the government's draft amendment to the Slovak Constitution, House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) has told TASR, adding that they will do so despite the fact that Parliament didn't approve their amending proposal to drop a single (nationwide) electoral district from the Constitution. "Yes, we'll back the Constitution, as this amending proposal came later and wasn't part of the original draft. So we will support the Constitution as it has been proposed. However, I repeat that support must also be found among opposition MPs, since votes of 90 MPs are needed to adopt the constitutional amendment," said Rasi. Rasi declined to say what will be the position of MP Jan Ferencak (Voice-SD), who asked for the postponement of the vote from June to September. He pointed to the fact that these are value-based issues and MPs will thus have their hands free when voting on the Constitution. At the same time, he appealed to Ferencak to realise that the Constitution isn't only about two genders, but it should also bring about equality between men and women in pays. Parliament should hold the final vote on the amendment to the Constitution at its September session. In line with its draft, the Constitution should stipulate that Slovakia recognises only two genders: male and female. It should also include a guarantee of equality between men and women when it comes to remuneration for work, a ban on surrogacy, and the right of a child to know its parents, i.e. the provision that the mother is a woman and the father is a man. BREZOVA POD BRADLOM - Forty participants in the pilot training of the National Defence Forces (NOS), including President Peter Pellegrini and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), took a ceremonial military oath near the General M. R. Stefanik's Mound on the Bradlo Hill on Sunday. Pellegrini pointed out that every day brought situations where it was necessary to go to the limit of one's physical and mental abilities. However, the training doesn't end with the oath-taking. "The most difficult part is yet to come, as we have the final training from Monday to Tuesday, which will be about surviving 24 hours under the open sky somewhere in the forests and using all the skills and information that we have learnt during the whole training," he said. He reiterated that as a NOS member he is ready to help the Slovak Republic whenever necessary. Sunday's oath-taking strengthened the president's conviction that undergoing the training was the right thing to do. The hardest thing was to overcome one's own limits, he said, adding that he hasn't missed a single discipline so far. Pellegrini doesn't understand the criticism from the public and part of the political spectrum regarding his participation in the training. NOS has been divided into three types of reserves. Operational reserves are intended mainly for people with military experience, for example, former soldiers or people who have already undergone some kind of training or underwent basic military service and know what they would do in the army. Army newcomers without experience could apply for the standby reserves. Within the NOS structure, military reserves have also been established, in which those interested can receive training without the obligation to commit to the reserves. Those who undergo the training will receive an allowance and the salary of a soldier of a respective rank. The Defence Ministry has also promised to provide some other benefits. mf