MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 15 August 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 14 August): BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's gross domestic product (GDP) in fixed prices grew by 0.4 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the second quarter of 2025, according to a preliminary estimate released by the Statistics Office on Thursday. Seasonally adjusted, GDP rose by 0.6 percent in yearly terms, while it increased by 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter. GDP volume in current prices rose by almost €1.7 billion y-o-y to reach €34.4 billion. When calculated in fixed prices, GDP amounted to €26.2 billion, which is an increase of €100 million y-o-y. The GDP growth in fixed prices in the second quarter of 2025 was driven by domestic demand, especially by growing investments and household consumption. BRATISLAVA - The Prosecutor-General's (PG) Office will look into lawfulness of the actions of the Interior Ministry, which hasn't launched any administrative proceedings concerning the possible exceeding of the limit for Peter Pellegrini's presidential campaign as set by law, PG Maros Zilinka has announced on a social network. Zilinka stated that the PG's Office is acting based on its own initiative in the case. The media has reported that there are doubts as to whether Peter Pellegrini kept within the €0.5-million limit for his presidential campaign. In his report on the funds spent on the campaign, Pellegrini claimed that he met the limit, having spent €499,451. BRATISLAVA - By information provided via the media about criminal proceedings related to Operation Storm, during which several judges were detained, the presumption of innocence of suspected or accused people, as well as their right to privacy, were not respected, according to a resolution adopted by the Judicial Council on Wednesday (13 August). Its chairperson Marcela Kosova pointed out that, to date, none of the judges detained at the time has been fully convicted. "Denying or casting doubt on the fundamental rights of the accused – be it by the chairperson of the Judicial Council and its members, or by the justice minister and other public officials – is an expression of how the principles of the rule of law were abandoned and how the credibility and authority of the judiciary were unjustifiably undermined," reads the resolution. According to Kosova, the reason why this item was included in the resolution is that the detained judges were condemned by many journalists, officials or the public on the day on which they were detained. BRATISLAVA - The Progressive Slovakia (PS) party is interfering in the internal affairs of Serbia with its activities concerning an incident that took place at a Slovak minority festival in Backi Petrovac last week, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) posted on a social network on Thursday. Blanar reacted in this way to PS leader Michal Simecka who met members of the Slovak minority in Serbia at Backi Petrovac on Wednesday (13 August) following Saturday's attack by supporters of the Serbian government on a photo exhibition about anti-government protests, which was unofficially held alongside the Slovak National Festivities there. Simecka said on the spot that the ethnic Slovak minority in the Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is afraid of further violence and Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) should immediately address the situation via diplomatic channels. However, Blanar opines that PS is dragging the Slovak minority living in Serbia into opposition-coalition disputes in Serbia. "As I was informed by the Slovak ambassador to Serbia, that Mr. Simecka didn't spend a long time in Serbia and somehow 'didn't even have time' to meet official representatives of the Slovak minority from Backi Petrovac," claims Blanar. BRATISLAVA - The domestic economy is collapsing and Slovakia is heading towards bankruptcy, opposition MPs from the 'Slovakia' party warned at a press conference on Thursday. They blamed the current government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for indebting the economy and causing virtually zero economic growth. „The current government often claims the blame lies with previous governments, the economic situation, frozen industry, or the slowing German economy,” said Julius Jakab ('Slovakia'). However, he argued the situation is a clear consequence of measures such as the introduction of a transaction tax, increased value-added tax (VAT), cuts to the child tax bonus, and reductions in parental pensions. Jakab contrasted Slovakia’s performance with neighbouring Poland, which, despite adverse global economic conditions, is expected to achieve 3.4 percent economic growth — roughly eighteen times higher than Slovakia. „They also have frozen industry but are implementing different measures that the Slovak government and Robert Fico absolutely fail to adopt,” he added. BRATISLAVA - State-run water management construction company Vodohospodarska Vystavba (VV) is continuing its preparations for the Malinec pumped storage power plant project. An indicative identification and alignment of the coordinates for potential future wells, which might form part of the next stages of the project's preparations, has been carried out on site, according to a statement provided to TASR by VV. VV stated that it will further inform the public about all steps in preparing the project. "We expect that the political discussion will be held based on facts and expert arguments, not lies and manipulation," reads the statement. The mayors of Malinec, Latky (both Banska Bystrica region) and 15 other villages in the Podpolanie area have supported the construction of the Malinec hydro-power plant, and the Environment Ministry has signed an agreement with them. Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) claims that the hydro-power power plant should bring economic growth and benefit to the entire Slovak economy. BRATISLAVA - The coalition council has reached an agreement on compensations for gas, heating, and electricity prices for households in 2026, alongside other initial budget and consolidation measures. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced the decision on Thursday following a session of the coalition council, sharing the information on social media. The compensation measures will apply to 90 percent of Slovak households. According to Fico, without these measures, energy prices — specifically for gas, heat, and electricity — would increase by one-third, which the coalition considers unacceptable. The compensation package will impact the state budget with an expenditure of €435 million. Fico also rejected claims about a potential, planned increase in value-added tax (VAT) as part of the consolidation process. He stated that the coalition council strongly refutes such false claims. „There is no such proposal,” the Prime Minister concluded. BRATISLAVA - The party Voice–SD welcomes the coalition council's agreement on its proposal, prepared by Economy Minister Denisa Sakova, to introduce energy compensation measures for 2026 — set to benefit 90 percent of households, thus sparing them from a 30-percent increase in electricity, gas, and heating costs, the party announced on Thursday. „This is a fundamental foundation of our election programme, where we promised to protect people from excessive energy price hikes. We are pleased that we managed to push it through despite difficult circumstances,” the party stated. Voice-SD also stressed its ongoing commitment to protecting the most vulnerable. The preservation of people's social standards and the safeguarding of the second pension pillar remain key priorities. lin