MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 25 July 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 24 July): BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini has called on Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice–SD) to ensure that the ambulance service tender process complies fully with the law, TASR learnt on Thursday. The President's Office issued the statement in response to a letter from the Doctors Trade Union Association (LOZ). The Health Ministry stated that the selection process will be conducted properly, transparently and in line with the established terms. "President Pellegrini has asked the Health Minister to ensure that the ambulance service tender is carried out in accordance with the relevant laws and legislative rules of the Slovak Republic," the President's Office noted. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has been working for a month with other opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS) and the Christian Democrats (KDH) to form a commission within the parliamentary committee for economic affairs to look into the planned construction of a new nuclear power plant by American company Westinghouse, MP and SaS energy expert Karol Galek stated in response to various opposition initiatives on the issue. "All MPs may participate in this commission. We'll submit the setting up of the commission to the next regular meeting of the House committee on economic affairs in September," said Galek, adding that Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) has also declared her cooperation with Parliament. The opposition 'Slovakia' party said earlier on Thursday that it's convening a roundtable discussion of opposition parties on the issue. KDH wants to approach other parliamentary parties to convene an extraordinary parliamentary meeting, at which Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) should present this investment. BRATISLAVA - The Interior Ministry and the Defence Ministry will discuss the setting up of a Gendarmerie Corps at a joint meeting, stated Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) in response to a journalist's question at a press conference on Thursday, adding that he welcomes the initiative of Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD). "I'm still convinced that this law, which established the Gendarmerie Corps, is justified. In particular, we're talking about strengthening security in our rural areas and towns, where it is simply a problem to set up a police station at all," he said, adding that the ministers will hold talks "in the coming days." Police Corps vice-president Rastislav Polakovic is expected to attend the meeting on behalf of the police. PRESOV – A member of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard (ZVJS) who was found on Tuesday (22 July) with a gunshot wound to the head at the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Presov has died, ZVJS spokesperson Anna Beckova Ragasova confirmed for TASR on Thursday. "With deep sorrow, we confirm that our colleague succumbed to his injuries on 23 July 2025," stated Beckova Ragasova. The 42-year-old officer sustained the injury on Tuesday afternoon during a service break. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head in an area reserved for ZVJS personnel within the prosecutor's office building. According to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Presov, the circumstances and causes of the incident are under investigation. Media reports suggest that the man may have fired the shot himself. BRATISLAVA - Former environment minister Jan B. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons) has filed a complaint against his indictment, Police Corps Presidium spokesman Roman Hajek told TASR on Thursday, adding that the complaint, along with the investigation file, has been submitted to the supervising prosecutor for a decision. "The Prosecutor-General's (PG) Office has registered the complaint, and the relevant prosecutor will determine the procedure on the matter within the statutory period," PG's Office spokesperson Zuzana Drobova told TASR. The former head of the Environment Ministry was charged with violating obligations in the management of somebody else's property in connection with the ineffective, uneconomical and purposeless use of Environment Ministry funds. The damage to the state budget is estimated at a total of almost €570,000. BRATISLAVA - House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice–SD) believes that Parliament should pass as few laws as possible through the fast-track legislative procedure, arguing that the standard legislative process allows more room to correct errors, he told TASR on Thursday. Rasi also said that he plans to make greater use of the parliamentary institute to help avoid legislative mistakes. "When something is done in a hurry, mistakes are made. We cannot fully restrict the duration of the legislative process because when the government submits a proposal under the shortened procedure, we are required to debate it that way. And then we have to fix errors, which naturally occur, on the fly. That's why we support using the shortened procedure for as few laws as possible," he explained. Rasi also commented on so-called 'riders' – amendments that modify or supplement a law unrelated to the bill being debated. "When there is a so-called rider – something unrelated to the bill – I automatically exclude it from the vote. However, Parliament can override this and still discuss the proposal," he added. ko