MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 18 September 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 17 September): BRATISLAVA – MPs will discuss the package of consolidation measures for next year via a fast-tracked legislative procedure and should make a final decision on the package during the current session of Parliament. The bill, which amends and supplements certain laws related to the consolidation of public finances, was approved by the government last week, and the cabinet requested that Parliament should debate it via fast-tracked legislative proceedings. After several days of discussion, MPs agreed to this request on Wednesday. MPs also approved limiting the debate on the consolidation package at the first reading to 12 hours. The debate will continue on Wednesday until this item has been discussed, if necessary even after 8 p.m., followed by a vote. BRATISLAVA – Opposition MPs from Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) urged the government and President Peter Pellegrini to dismiss the head of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) Pavol Gaspar following the session of the House committee for supervising the SIS held on Wednesday, saying that Gaspar was not able to answer their questions on his recent traffic accident and was arrogant. "Answers such as 'I am a free man, an ordinary man, I can do what I want in my free time' show a complete lack of understanding of the responsibility that comes with his position as head of the SIS," said SaS MP Maria Kolikova, adding that Gaspar questioned the reports that the perpetrator of the bomb threats against Slovak schools, who was detained in Ukraine, had links to Russia. Zuzana Stevulova (PS) pointed out that the committee could not assess cooperation between the SIS and foreign intelligence services based on the information provided by Gaspar, adding that his behaviour was arrogant, whether in public or at a closed committee meeting. BRATISLAVA – Prosecutor-General (PG) Maros Zilinka on Tuesday (16 September) dropped the charges against three police officers of the former National Crime Agency (NAKA), Branislav D., Robert M. and Roman S. [names abbreviated for legal reasons], TASR learnt on Wednesday. The PG has also quashed the prosecutor's resolution that rejected the complaint filed by the defendants against the order to press charges. Zilinka did so on the grounds that the decisions of the investigator and the prosecutor and the proceedings that took place before them violated the law to the detriment of the accused in both procedural and substantive terms. TASR was informed about this by Prosecutor-General's Office spokeswoman Zuzana Drobova on Wednesday. She further explained that the substantive violations of the law found in the procedure and in the decisions of the law-enforcement authorities consisted in the fact that the act described on the charge sheet didn't meet the statutory elements of the offence of obstruction of justice. Nor did the facts established permit a sufficiently reasoned conclusion that the act had taken place as described in the charges. BRATISLAVA – Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, who took part in a protest against consolidation organised by opposition parties in Bratislava on Tuesday, interfered in Slovakia's internal affairs and dragged Slovakia into the current campaign in the Czech Republic ahead of the election to the Chamber of Deputies, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) posted on a social network on Wednesday, adding that he's instructed the Slovak ambassador to the Czech Republic to convey the Slovak government's protest to the Czech side. "I reject interference in the internal affairs of the Slovak Republic, which I consider to concern the participation of Czech Vice-premier and Interior Minister Vit Rakusan in the anti-government opposition protest in Bratislava on 16 September 2025. Such actions don't contribute to constructive Slovak-Czech dialogue; on the contrary, I perceive them as abuse in the context of the culminating pre-election campaign in the Czech Republic," wrote Blanar. "In this regard, I've instructed the ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Prague to convey our protest to the Czech side," added Slovakia's chief diplomat. Blanar noted that despite the declared private nature of his trip, Rakusan is the vice-premier and interior minister of the Czech Republic, and any stay on the territory of another state is subject to the standards of international law. BRATISLAVA – Cord blood [which is collected from umbilical chords or placentas - ed. note] was exported from Slovakia to the private home of a doctor in the Netherlands, said opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Vladimira Marcinkova (SaS) on Wednesday, citing a report by the Dutch health ministry's inspection authority. She added that the National Transplant Organisation (NTO) had the address to which the cord blood was exported at its disposal, and she criticised Slovakia's inspection bodies for carrying out only a formal check. As she said, they didn't find any shortcomings, even though these were obvious. Marcinkova noted that the Dutch inspection authorities confirmed her findings that donations of cord blood were actually exported to the Netherlands. KRASNOHORSKE PODHRADIE – The Slovak National Museum (SNM) has withdrawn from the contract with the contractor for the reconstruction of Krasna Horka Castle in Kosice region, with MBM-GROUP, the company carrying out the renovation, claiming that this withdrawal is invalid, the company's board chairwoman Alena Novakova told TASR on Wednesday, adding that the firm will defend itself in court. The SNM's withdrawal from the contract was reported to the contractor on Friday (12 September), allegedly due to MBM-GROUP's failure to provide information about the subcontractors working on the contract. The company renovating Krasna Horka considers the withdrawal to be invalid and strongly disagrees with it. "The claim is false, as MBM-GROUP provided information about the subcontractors in writing during the construction process in 2023. The client has therefore been aware of the activities of these subcontractors for more than two years," said Novakova, adding that the company can prove this fact with written evidence and is already taking legal action regarding the invalid nature of the withdrawal from the contract. ko