MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 11 September 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 10 September): BRATISLAVA - The violation of Polish airspace by attack drones is a serious incident that could have far-reaching consequences, said Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Wednesday in response to the incident, adding that it's vital to determine objectively whether it was deliberate or an accident and under whose control the drones were. At the same time, Fico expressed solidarity with Poland, offering it cooperation in seeking answers. "I won't let myself be provoked by political games or anti-government and anti-Slovak media. I draw information solely from relevant sources. These allow me to take only the aforementioned position at the moment. If there is reason to do so, I will change or supplement my position, while consistently following the principle of respecting international law," said the premier. BRATISLAVA/OSAKA – Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday condemned the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones, which occurred during the previous night. "Slovakia firmly stands by Poland, its neighbour and ally," the head of state posted on social media. Pellegrini also stressed the need to bolster NATO’s air defence. „Such a serious breach of our collective security is absolutely unacceptable. Slovakia is in touch with Poland and our allies to assess the situation calmly," said Pellegrini. „We must continue our efforts to strengthen NATO’s air defence and protect allies on the eastern flank, including Slovakia," he added. BRATISLAVA - The cancellation of time off work on some public holidays, shorter tax holidays for new sole traders, more progressive tax on employee incomes and an increase in health-care levies are just some of the measures included in a law amending certain legislation in connection with the consolidation of public finances that the cabinet approved on Wednesday. The government has asked Parliament to discuss the law via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. The law doesn't address savings at ministries and offices, but only changes that affect companies, municipalities and citizens. Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) said on Tuesday (9 September) that the ministries are set to submit proposals for savings by the end of this week. In total, this should cover about €700 million. The government has added the payment of energy aid from EU funds worth €430 million to this amount. The approved provisions of the consolidation law should bring €1.4 billion into state coffers. BRATISLAVA - The announced consolidation measures for next year are a declaration of war against working people in Slovakia: their situation is already bad now, and it could even become unbearable, representatives of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party told a news conference in Parliament on Wednesday. For this reason, PS is convening a protest rally in Bratislava and other towns and cities to take place at 6 p.m. next Tuesday (16 September). PS leader Michal Simecka said that the party has been urging the government to start saving on itself for several months. Instead, it's coming up with measures that will take additional hundreds of euros from the earnings of employees and self-employed people. "This is unbearable. I'm afraid that not only our economy, but also many of our households really cannot take it any more. So, there's a need to send a clear signal that this isn't the way to go and that they cannot impoverish people in Slovakia like this," stated Simecka. OSAKA - President Peter Pellegrini visited the Slovak stand at the EXPO 2025 world exposition in Osaka, Japan as part of the Slovak National Day on Wednesday. Despite the difficult economic situation, it will be important to devote more attention to preparing for upcoming expositions, which will take place in Belgrade and Riyadh, stressed the president, adding that Slovakia might return to the idea of ​​its own pavilion in the future, TASR has learnt from its special correspondent. Contrary to the previous EXPO in Dubai, Slovakia doesn't have its own pavilion in Osaka. Its stand is located in a joint pavilion shared with countries such as Israel, Panama, Ukraine, Slovenia and Uruguay. "I personally think that we in Slovakia must realise that we are a small country, an open economy, and we must invest money in our PR, in our presentation, we must think big, we mustn't always be under the impression that we can do it all modestly, for a few euros," stated Pellegrini. KOSICE - At its non-public session on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court decided to accept for further proceedings ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky's motion regarding the constitutionality of the amendment to the NGO Act, placing it in a single set of proceedings with a motion filed by a group of opposition MPS who had already challenged the amendment. In the ombudsman's opinion, some of the law's provisions violate the principle of freedom, while at the same time hampering civil society's participation in public life and enabling the state to undertake disproportionate activities aimed at 'spying on' NGOs. Dobrovodsky said this to the media in August. He believes that the Constitutional Court will uphold his motion, thus keeping intact the high standard of the right to freedom of association. The ombudsman presented five areas in which he sees problems, such as publishing lists of contributors and including their identification data, or restrictions applicable to the free movement of capital in that the legislation will also apply to donors from EU and non-EU countries. ko