MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 7 October 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 6 October): BRATISLAVA - The Budgetary Responsibility Council (RRZ) expects Slovakia's gross public debt to grow to 61.8 percent of GDP by the end of 2025 and so exceed the record set in the pandemic year of 2021. RRZ analysts in their commentary on the latest developments pointed out that even additional consolidation efforts in the form of meeting the government's targeted lower budget deficits won't ensure that the debt is stabilised in the next few years. "While periods of favourable economic development have helped us to reduce the public debt in relation to GDP, crisis periods caused mainly by external factors have worsened the situation in public finances even more significantly," warned the analysts. Crisis periods usually bring with them a sharp increase in public spending, while revenues remain tied to the development of a stagnating economy. The permanent loss of part of potential GDP during a crisis automatically leads to growth in the structural deficit in relation to GDP, even without the influence of budgetary policy. "It's all the more important to take a responsible approach to reducing the deficit and debt in better times. The debt currently exceeds 60 percent of GDP, which is partly due to the fact that debt reduction in 2014-2019 wasn't sufficient with regards to the impact of the crisis years of 2009-2013," underlined the analysts. RRZ noted that the third announced consolidation package is largely focused on improving public finances by increasing the tax and contribution burden. According to the analysts, it would be better to focus more on public spending. Its level in relation to GDP has increased by almost 9 percentage points (p.p.) since 2019, and it might even reach 50 percent of GDP in 2026. "Without a clearer recovery plan based on specific and mainly long-term measures reducing the level of public spending, the solution to high debt is being delayed. With every further delay, this will be significantly more costly not only from the economic, but also the social viewpoints due to so-called consolidation fatigue," warned the RRZ analysts. In the long term, they view structural reforms supporting faster economic growth as one of the most important solutions, as it will be reflected in higher public revenues in the long term. BRATISLAVA - A prosecutor from the Bratislava Region Prosecutor's Office has dropped charges of abuse of power by a public official and obstruction of justice against former officers of the now-dissolved National Crime Agency (NAKA) Branislav Duncko and Robert Magula, known to be part of the so-called 'Curilla group', their lawyer Peter Kubina announced on social media on Monday, adding that the prosecutor's decision is final. According to the prosecutor's resolution, the assertion that they lied to judges is merely an assumption made by an investigator from the Veritas team of the Internal Affairs Inspectorate (UIS), which contradicts the contents of the case file. "Requests for the approval of wiretaps met all legal requirements, and their content was based on the relevant case file. This was neither an abuse of power nor an obstruction of justice," explained Kubina. He said that the prosecutor also confirmed that if Magula and Duncko were to be prosecuted for such conduct, their two superiors who had signed the respective requests would have to face prosecution as well. In June, an UIS investigator charged the former operatives with abuse of power by a public official and obstruction of justice, stating that they had allegedly requested wiretapping on the basis of false information in 2019. "They allegedly misled a judge of Bratislava Region Court and provided unsubstantiated information and reasons for wiretapping. Subsequently, the wiretaps were actually carried out based on this information. The case was linked to a well-known organised crime group from western Slovakia," stated UIS, adding that the accused allegedly committed the offences as public officials while with NAKA. If they had been found guilty, they would have faced prison sentences ranging from three to twelve years. BANSKA BYSTRICA - The main trial of prosecutor Bystrik P. Sr. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], who is charged with bribery and abuse of power, commenced at the Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Banska Bystrica on Monday, TASR reported on the same day. He is accused, while serving as a prosecutor of Bratislava I District Prosecutor's Office, of demanding a bribe of €100,000 from Erik M., a defendant in the Carlton Hotel case, in exchange for arranging with his superior a decision in the defendant's favour. In addition, Bystrik P. Sr. was allegedly supposed to decide in the defendant's favour and ensure that another prosecutor handling a different criminal case would act likewise. Bystrik P. Sr. denies any wrongdoing. A single STS judge began the proceedings against Bystrik P. Sr. on Monday morning. At the start of the hearing, both sides refused to enter into a plea bargain. After the indictment was read out, the accused prosecutor pleaded not guilty. "We consider the indictment to be unfounded and based on unlawful evidence, as well as on unlawfully conducted pre-trial proceedings," said the defendant's lawyer Rastislav Palovic, who added that, in addition to being filed by an unauthorised prosecutor, the indictment also failed to take Criminal Code amendments into account. Monday's hearings continued with witness testimonies. The first to testify was a prosecutor from the Bratislava Region Prosecutor's Office, who claimed that no one had attempted, either directly or indirectly, to influence his decisions. The second witness, former Special Prosecutor Dusan Kovacik, said that he didn't personally know Erik M., against whom he had filed an indictment while with the Special Prosecutor's Office, and he described him as a liar. After these testimonies, the presiding judge adjourned the trial, which is scheduled to continue on 16 October with the testimony of Erik M. BRATISLAVA - The Justice Ministry has joined a European project aimed at creating legal research summaries across various areas of law to assist judges in their work, with full-scale online testing set to begin next year, TASR was informed on Monday by the ministry's press department spokesperson Dalibor Skladan. The ministry stated that the pilot phase of the project has been running in Slovakia for three years, with 34 analysts preparing background materials that included specific judgments and findings from all requested proceedings. "To date, analysts have produced around 600 research summaries in the fields of civil, family, commercial, criminal, and administrative law," the press department stated. Starting next year, the platform will be made available online to all judges. "Our goal is for every judge to be able to request a summary on a specific legal issue. This will enable them to make effective use of the research in their work and avoid the lengthy preparatory process that precedes ruling on a case," said Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD). mf