MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 17 October 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 16 October): BRATISLAVA - In his opening speech at the EU Export Day event, aimed at strengthening export readiness and increasing the competitiveness of companies outside the EU, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said that he won't support the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions unless he sees reasonable proposals from the European Council (EUCO). According to Fico, there's a need to focus on the EU's competitiveness so that countries will be able to sell their products abroad. "I won't support the 19th package against Russia unless we see reasonable proposals for wording and instructions for the European Commission in the conclusions of the European Council, as I view its role in that we, as leaders, should give certain instructions to the European Commission, which is an executive body, and I think that I clearly emphasised this to the European Council president yesterday (15 October). Our duty is to come up with reasonable proposals to supplement the EUCO's conclusions regarding car production, regarding electricity prices," stated Fico. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party plans to submit a motion on Thursday to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session to oust Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent), the party's vice-chairman Michal Truban told a briefing on Thursday. PS criticised Migal for poor drawing of EU funds and freezing EU funds for towns and villages, but especially for a public procurement for supplying IT solutions for the slovensko.sk website. "We can't just stand by and watch this mismanagement and failure at the Investments, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry. It concerns too much money and too many important projects that are too important for the future of Slovakia. That's why we're submitting a motion to dismiss Minister Samuel Migal. We expect that a proper debate and vote will take place within a reasonable time, not a year from now. We expect the minister to answer to Parliament, as required by our Constitution," said Truban. The MP added that Slovakia is currently drawing EU funds so slowly that, at the current rate, it would take until 2044 to use up the entire allocation. At the same time, the first hundreds of millions of euros are already at risk of being lost next year. SOFIA – The Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry has summoned the Slovak ambassador in Sofia in connection with statements made by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on North Macedonia's integration process with the EU, describing them as unacceptable, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry stated on Thursday, TASR has learnt from BTA news agency. Head of European affairs at the Bulgarian ministry Jordan Parvanov expressed Bulgaria's "great surprise" at President Pellegrini's statements during a meeting with Slovak Ambassador Vasil Grivna. According to him, "they essentially call into question the validity of the European consensus of July 2022, adopted by all EU-member states, including Slovakia." He mentioned the compromise agreement between EU-member states, which allowed accession talks with Skopje to begin under certain conditions, including changes to the constitution and the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in it, reported BTA. "We are deeply disappointed that a partner country has decided to encourage the counterproductive rhetoric of the government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which is constantly looking for someone to blame for the lack of progress in its European integration process. Such an attitude serves neither the EU's strategic vision for the region nor the interests of the citizens of this candidate country," said Parvanov. BRATISLAVA - House Speaker Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) met Secretary-General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) Mathieu Mori in Bratislava on Thursday to discuss strengthening democracy at the local level, TASR learnt from the Parliament Office's press department on the same day. "Respecting and promoting the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law right at the local level strengthens good governance, builds trust in institutions and contributes to the stability of society as a whole. In this regard, the work of the Council of Europe and its Congress is invaluable," stated Rasi at the meeting, which was also attended by Interior Ministry State Secretary and Government Proxy for Local Government Michal Kalinak. The House chair also expressed support for relaunching the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) programme in Slovakia, while Kalinak presented specific steps that the government is taking to modernise public administration in line with the Congress's recommendations. BRATISLAVA - The first flight on Wizz Air's new route between Bratislava and Kosice will take off at 6:30 a.m. on 21 November, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced at a press conference on Thursday. Fico stated that he proposed reinstating this connection during his previous term in office in 2016, but the then transport minister had different priorities. "I appreciate that fact that when I told Minister Raz upon his appointment, 'Minister, please do everything you can to reinstate this connection', he responded positively," said Fico. The prime minister claimed that public procurement procedures and inefficient political systems remain two major barriers to development in Europe. "Perhaps it could have been done faster, but everything must go through complicated procedures," he added. Fico also reiterated that the decision in 2006 to cancel the planned privatisation of Bratislava airport was the correct one, noting the airport has undergone significant modernisation since then. He didn't rule out discussions about its possible expansion. VARIN – State-run rail infrastructure operator ZSR is deploying new GSM-R communication systems on the ZSR network for safer and more efficient transport on the main line between Zilina and Cierna nad Tisou in eastern Slovakia, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee), ZSR general director Ivan Bednarik and Kontron general director Petr Vitek, representing the contractor, stated at a press conference at the railway station in the village of Varin near Zilina on Thursday. The construction, with a total length of 329.4 kilometres, cost more than €40 million ex-VAT, and it was financed by the Connecting Europe Facility and co-financed from the state budget. The project is part of the process of connecting Slovak rail infrastructure to European transport corridors. The GSM-R line radio dispatch communications system will provide mobile telecommunications and data communication for railway operations and for introducing the ERTMS system on the Varin-Kosice-Cierna nad Tisou section. The ERTMS system consists of two main components, ETCS and GSM-R. ko