MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, 20 August 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, 19 August): SURANY/NITRA – A battery plant in the planned Surany industrial park in the district of Nove Zamky (Nitra region) on Monday (18 August) received a construction permit from the Nitra Regional Office for Spatial Planning and Construction, thereby allowing GIB EnergyX Slovakia to build production facilities intended for prototype production of up to 1 gigawatt hour, the company itself reported on Tuesday. "The permit covers the construction of the main production halls, warehouses and gatehouses, as well as several engineering networks, including external electrical distribution, transformer stations and temporary structures necessary to equip the construction site and connect it to the infrastructure," announced the company. The company gave assurances that all work will be carried out in line with the conditions set by the respective authorities. "This decision states that the proposed activity, while complying with all technical, safety and organisational measures, doesn't pose a significant risk to the environment or the health of local people," said the company. BRATISLAVA - By filing a motion with the Constitutional Court regarding an amendment to the NGO Act, ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky has sided with the political opposition and uncritically adopted its "misleading" criticism, which has been disproven multiple times, the Government Office's press and information department told TASR on Tuesday. Dobrovodsky also ignored recommendations from international authorities, added the office, perceiving his motion to be unnecessary and political. The office, as one of the authors of the act, which was aimed at making the NGO sector in Slovakia more transparent, said that it respects the ombudsman's right to participate in public policy-making, including via motions filed with the Constitutional Court. BRATISLAVA - Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar has welcomed the continuation of peace negotiations on the war in Ukraine, which took place in the United States on Monday with the participation of US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other European leaders, the Foreign Ministry's press department told TASR on Tuesday. "It's important that the initiative of the US president – which the Slovak government has fully supported from the beginning – aimed at ending the military conflict in Ukraine is continuing. The meeting at the White House followed up on Friday's summit between Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska," stated Blanar. The Slovak minister added that Washington's strong interest in guaranteeing peace in Ukraine clearly demonstrates the US administration's commitment to end the war as soon as possible. BRATISLAVA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Tuesday welcomed the latest developments in resolving the military conflict in Ukraine. In a video shared on social media after a video conference with EU leaders, held the day after negotiations in Washington, Fico underlined that there are two key prerequisites for ending the war. The first condition, said Fico, is recognising that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member. The prime minister emphasised that he has supported this stance since the beginning of the war. The second condition for peace, he stated, is the need to discuss territorial changes in Ukraine. Without such a dialogue, he believes that the conflict cannot be resolved. BRATISLAVA - The Ruzinov borough in Bratislava is addressing the aftermath of a tragic incident that occurred on Tuesday at Hrachova Street, the local mayor, Martin Chren, reported on social media on the same day. According to Chren, the event involved a family tragedy followed by the setting of an apartment on fire. Representatives from the local authority, firefighters, and police spent several hours at the scene as part of crisis management procedures. „Two flats — the one destroyed by fire and the one directly above — are uninhabitable. In six other apartments, a structural engineer recommended that residents stay away for several days. One individual is being provided with temporary housing in cooperation with the capital city, as is our duty in such situations,” Chren stated. BRATISLAVA - Public Ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky rejects claims suggesting political motivation behind his recent decision to challenge the new NGO legislation in the Constitution Court, stating that it is based solely on his own findings and the legal analysis conducted by his staff, TASR learnt on Tuesday. Dobrovodsky emphasised that the proposal contains exclusively professional and constitutional legal arguments. „I distance myself from attempts by political actors to draw me into domestic political conflicts," he said in a recent statement. Dobrovodsky reiterated that his mission is to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of both individuals and legal entities against state power. He noted that this mission also guided the filing of the proposal with the Constitutional Court. He made it clear that in exercising his constitutional powers, he will not be influenced by political positions of the Government Office, the ruling coalition, or the parliamentary opposition. jrg