MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 4 November 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 3 November): BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini didn't sign the amendment to the Gambling Act on Monday and returned it to Parliament so that it can be debated again, recommending that MPs shouldn't adopt the bill as a whole. The head of state considers the approved amendment to represent unacceptable interference in the constitutional right to territorial self-government, the autonomy of municipalities, towns and their exercise of public authority, including respect for the principle of legal certainty. "The sovereign holder of power in Slovakia is the citizen. Citizens in many places in Slovakia, either directly in local referendums or through their elected representatives, have made it clear that they don't want gambling in their village or town. The approved law, despite its amendments in Parliament, doesn't guarantee that the will of citizens will be fully respected," said Pellegrini. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office (PG) in connection with statements about an alleged coup that state representatives started to make in January, SaS representatives told a news conference held in front of the PG Office's headquarters in Bratislava on Monday, adding that they deem this to be a case of spreading alarmist news. SaS criticised the government for not addressing the growing crime rate and worsening security situation while convening a special House session and Security Council meeting over an alleged coup at the beginning of the year. "When there were rumours about an alleged coup, the governing coalition was able to convene a Security Council meeting. They exchanged some information at this, but we don't know what it was, as the whole coup was fabricated," stated SaS leader Branislav Groehling, adding that government officials were unable to provide any facts about a coup. "We don't want to see this any more, security is failing in this country and we think that there's a need to act. That's why we're also filing a criminal complaint on suspicion that the crime of spreading alarmist news has been committed," he explained. BRATISLAVA - The state shouldn't be scrimping on its internal security, and the worsening situation in connection with a growing level of property crime in towns and villages should be addressed immediately, representatives of the Slovak Towns Union (UMS) concurred at a meeting with Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka on Monday. Both sides announced that they'll submit comments to laws, including an amendment to the Penal Code, that are currently undergoing the inter-ministerial comments procedure. The Union also asked politicians not to politicise the issue of street safety. "The meeting was at a high professional level. We basically agreed on everything. It will definitely be necessary to modify the Penal Code, because during the year during which it's been in force it's been shown to be one that simply needs to be improved," said UMS head and Trencin mayor Richard Rybnicek. UMS has repeatedly called for repeat offences to be made a crime, as well as for the threshold for when they become a crime to be lowered. It's also called for greater powers for municipal police forces, more state police officers on the streets and the return of the so-called 'detention centres'. BRATISLAVA - The social partners have rejected the proposal for the EU emissions trading system ETS 2, which is set to apply to European households as of 2027, said Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) following the tripartite (government, trade unions and employers) meeting on Monday, adding that as it is currently projected, ETS 2 will have a negative impact on both people and firms. "We agreed that such a system of emission allowances would have a significantly severe social impact on people and a huge economic impact on companies in Slovakia. Therefore, we support any steps that would lead to a revision, a reconsideration of this entire system, or its potential postponement," said Tomas. Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) president Monika Uhlerova said that emission allowances could negatively affect households at risk of poverty. At the same time, although the regulated maximum price of one allowance is €45, she fears that this ceiling may not be respected during trading on the market. BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-General (PG) Maros Zilinka has rejected a proposal by police officers of the former National Crime Agency (NAKA), Pavol D., Jan C. and Lubomir D. and prosecutor Michal S. to drop the charges against them in line with paragraph 363, the PG Office's spokesperson Zuzana Drobova has told TASR. During the examination of the case, no violation of the law has been found that would justify annulling the contested decision during pre-trial proceedings, said Drobova. BRATISLAVA - The state budget saw a deficit of €4.67 billion at the end of October 2025, which was a deterioration of €1.27 billion, or 37.3 percent, year-on-year (y-o-y), the Finance Ministry reported on Monday. State-budget incomes grew by €1.24 billion, or 6.6 percent, y-o-y to reach €20.05 billion in the tenth month of the year, while expenditures rose by €2.51 billion, or 11.3 percent, to €24.72 billion. "Tax revenues grew by €1.82 billion (12.2 percent) y-o-y in October. Of this, the highest proportion as usual came from value-added tax, bringing in €625.3 million more than the year before. The amount of corporate tax collected rose by €231.6 million, that of withholding tax by €11.8 million, while the amount of excise taxes garnered grew by €58.1 million," said the Finance Ministry. ko