MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 31 October 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 30 October): BRATISLAVA - With regard to a rise in crime and a spate of thefts, the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has called on Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) to start taking action and finding solutions, PS representatives told a press conference on Thursday, indicating that the situation was caused by amendments to the Penal Code. "Of course, we have solutions and are considering various alternatives. However, not a single one of our bills has been approved in the past two years, so we won't be tabling them for now. This is Minister Susko's task," said PS MP Branislav Vanco, adding that "we can't send hungry people to prison, but we also can't tell people to go ahead and start stealing because nothing's going to happen to them". Vanco urged Susko to immediately present to Parliament specific measures and legislative proposals to address the serious problem of rising crime. BRATISLAVA - The 'Slovakia' party has called for joint opposition protests to be organised in several towns and cities across Slovakia on 17 November, party leader Igor Matovic told a news conference on Thursday. According to Matovic, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), the Christian Democrats (KDH) and the extra-parliamentary 'Democrats' have joined the initiative. However, Progressive Slovakia (PS) hasn't reacted to the call and has started to organise its own protests close to where the other opposition parties plan to gather. "We don't think that this is the way to go, it will look very, very bad, and we'd like to ask Progressive Slovakia to take a step back regarding this matter," said Matovic, adding that public unity among the opposition parties would give people hope. BRATISLAVA - The Interior Ministry, Parliament, and other state and public administration bodies, local authorities, the private sector, associations, media, and non-governmental organisations have declared cooperation in protecting seniors from fraud, with representatives of these institutions and organisations jointly signing a declaration at the Interior Ministry on Thursday. “The signing of this declaration clearly shows our determination that we are ready to fight all fraudsters who have decided to steal from our seniors,” said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD). He pointed out that the police have recorded more than 380 attempts to commit fraud against seniors this year, almost half of which were actually completed. “The total damage to date amounts to nearly €1.7 million,” he added. According to House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD), Parliament will contribute to the project through three main activities. “Any legislative adjustment needed to protect our seniors will be prioritised in parliamentary discussions,” he declared. He also announced that the Parliament's staff will assist in comparing legislation on senior protection against fraud across European countries and will actively participate in preventive measures. BRATISLAVA - Nurses and midwives working in institutional healthcare should receive a monthly allowance of €250 next year, Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) announced after his meeting with representatives of the Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives (OZ SaPA) on Thursday, which focused on the stabilisation of nurses and midwives. “Nurses and midwives should receive an additional €250 per month to their salary in 2026, based on the Health Minister's guarantee. We will continue to negotiate intensively on other conditions, as we have presented our expectations point by point,” said union chair Monika Kavecka. The union representatives also presented their specific demands to the minister at Thursday's meeting. They are calling, for instance, for an increase in pay for years of service for nurses and midwives. BRATISLAVA/SAMARKAND - Relations between Slovakia and Uzbekistan are very good, with great potential for developing economic cooperation, said President Peter Pellegrini following his talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Samarkand on Thursday. Pellegrini expressed pleasure that the partnership between the two countries has been built on mutual trust. The discussion was based on the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership. "This opened up a new chapter in our relations, which we want to translate into concrete steps. We spoke about new opportunities in industry, nuclear energy and education, water management and tourism," Pellegrini has posted on a social network. The two presidents concurred on the need to strengthen bilateral contacts between universities and cultural institutions. According to Pellegrini, it is through them that bridges for further cooperation are being built. He believes that Mirziyoyev will pay an official visit to Slovakia next year and that they will build on existing projects. BRATISLAVA - The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has achieved the best results in the past 20 years during the current electoral term, Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) told a news conference on Thursday dedicated to an assessment of the ministry's work and results in the past two years. Takac stated that the ministry has been successful when it comes to supporting projects, dealing with applications, providing state aid for the farming sector, approving legal acts at the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) and carrying out land adjustments. In 2023, when the current government was set up, the previous Rural Development Programme was ending and a new programme to support agriculture from EU funds was being launched, recalled Takac. However, previous governments failed to prepare any documents for this, either in the form of a law or documentation for managing the new strategic plan. According to Takac, the ministry's new management has caught up with this. ko