MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 15 November 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 14 November): BRATISLAVA - Several opposition parties announced on Friday that they are filing criminal complaints with respect to research and development grant calls issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy, headed by Peter Kmec (Voice–SD). The opposition parties again called on Kmec to release all related information. The office continues to deny any wrongdoing. A criminal complaint by Progressive Slovakia (PS) focuses on three main suspicions: misuse of power by a public official, accepting a bribe, and bribery by an unknown perpetrator or perpetrators. "These are the three basic points outlined in the criminal complaint. Documentation and evidence that has reached us are attached. We'll provide more information in the coming days, because there is indeed more," said opposition MP Jan Hargas (PS). According to Hargas, the allocation of grants to several problematic companies was suspicious, as was the method of selecting project evaluators, and suspicions of possible bribery also emerged. He added that Progressive Slovakia has received an anonymous tip-off, probably from within the office itself, describing in detail how project selection may have been manipulated. Hargas called the move by Voice–SD chair Matus Sutaj Estok, who ordered the suspension of the calls pending investigation, an "empty gesture". He pointed out that 13 contracts have already been signed and published in the Central Register of Contracts, covering projects worth nearly €65 million. "Let's not pretend that anything has been stopped, because these contracts create rights and obligations, and these companies understandably expect to receive the grants," he warned. PS is calling on Kmec to publish all information related to the problematic grant calls, including the list of project evaluators, the minutes of their assignment to specific projects, and the project assessments themselves. It also demands the names of the commission members who evaluated the applications and the minutes from the commission's meetings. "If Deputy Prime Minister Kmec doesn't do this, we'll initiate a parliamentary probe," added Hargas. BRATISLAVA - I'm filing a motion to President Peter Pellegrini to dismiss Vice-premier for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy Peter Kmec (Voice-SD), Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) posted on a social network on Friday. "I won't allow this government to be associated with doubts about the handling of public funds," stated Fico. BRATISLAVA - Coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko has called on former foreign minister (2012-20) and current adviser to the prime minister Miroslav Lajcak to clarify whether a reported email exchange with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein is genuine. "Miroslav Lajcak was and is a top diplomat. There is no doubt that he's a professional, and so he should take a professional approach to this matter, as should those around him. He should above all say whether the communications in those emails are authentic," said Danko at a press conference on Friday. Danko also wants to know which of the messages are genuine and why Lajcak acted as he allegedly did. If Lajcak denies this email exchange, it will be necessary to identify the person who communicated with Epstein by email. "We'll then take the appropriate action," added Danko. The SNS head also called on then-deputy foreign minister Ivan Korcok (PS) to clarify whether he was aware of this communication. "I expect them to say whether Korcok, Lajcak or other people actually met such individuals, what the purpose was, and whether they received any financial benefits," he stated. At the same time, the SNS leader expects current Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) to review all communications of his predecessors at the ministry. He wants to know whether representatives of the ministry were passing information to a foreign power. He assumes that the ministry holds an archive of communications. Danko also wants Blanar to ensure that there is no leakage of any information. "Such a scandal has never occurred here, which directly shows that, in some kind of group, information revealing what's behind the scenes of [Slovak] politics is being passed via a network of people to the president of the United States. I cannot recall in history such a tangible piece of evidence being within reach," he remarked. The Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday (12 November) published thousands of pages of documents related to the case of the late US financier Epstein. The documents include email communications allegedly exchanged between then Slovak foreign minister Lajcak and Epstein. According to the released documents, Epstein reportedly sent Lajcak a link in March 2018 to an article from the Daily Beast claiming that then US President Donald Trump was close to a mental breakdown. The former Slovak foreign minister allegedly replied from his official ministerial email that he'd already heard enough about the issue during the day. Epstein also reportedly wrote about Lajcak to former Trump adviser and strategist Steve Bannon in March 2018. In an email, Epstein referred to the Slovak ex-minister in a familiar manner as "Miro" and suggested that he could lead a kind of "European project". BRATISLAVA - I engaged with US financier Jeffrey Epstein in the past only in social communication as part of my diplomatic duties, Miroslav Lajcak, the former foreign minister (2012-20) and current adviser to Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told TASR on Friday. The opening of Epstein's case by the US justice system concerning the abuse of minors took place only after Lajcak's departure from New York in 2018, noted the Slovak diplomat, who had previously served as President of the 72nd UN General Assembly. Lajcak also strongly condemned Epstein's actions, which, he pointed out, only came to light in their entirety after the financier's arrest. According to Lajcak, the role of a diplomat is to establish contacts with as wide a range of partners as possible, and he claims to have met thousands of such people during his career. When he was in New York, he says he was introduced to dozens of influential people, including Epstein, with whom many public figures from the US and abroad maintained contact at the time. "Our subsequent communication, which he initiated, was of a social nature and was mainly devoted to commenting on current events in the world," said Lajcak, adding that he still maintains similar communication with dozens of people he has met during his professional career. "My conscience is clear; there was nothing in it that deviated from the standard framework," he emphasised. "The reopening of the Epstein case took place after I left New York, and the full extent of his inexcusable actions, which I strongly condemn, only came to light after his arrest," stressed Lajcak. Slovakia's former chief diplomat further stated that he often communicated with people who were fully accepted at the time, but later ended up in court for war crimes, for example. "It is always easier to evaluate things in retrospect, but in life we make decisions in real time, based on the information and knowledge we have available at that moment," added Lajcak. KRAKOW - A new Slovak Honorary Consulate General in Krakow was officially opened at the Juliusz Slowacki Theatre on Friday, TASR has learnt from its Warsaw correspondent. The new honorary consul general will be Paulina Sperkova, announced Slovak Ambassador to Poland Andrea Elschekova-Matisova, calling the opening a new chapter in relations between Slovakia and Poland. The original consulate was closed in late 2024. The ambassador stressed that the opening of the new consulate symbolises the return of Slovak diplomatic presence to a city with deep cultural and historical ties to Slovakia. "I believe that the new institution will become a place that will prove that Slovakia and Poland aren't just neighbours on the map, but partners who understand and inspire each other," she added. New honorary consul Sperkova presented the priorities of the new institution: services for Slovak citizens and the community, support for cross-border projects and more significant economic cooperation. She emphasised that she wants to promote Slovakia at Polish forums and conferences in the long term. "I'll work to make Slovakia more visible as a country of great business opportunities," she said. The new consular district includes the Lesser Poland, Lublin, Podkarpacie and Świat Krzysztof voivodeships. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia opened its own Chip Competence Centre on Friday at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Slovak University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava, with the event attended by state secretaries of the education and economy ministries Jan Hrinko and Vladimir Simonak, respectively, TASR reported on the same day. As part of a European initiative, the Slovak Chip Competence Centre will bring together all key representatives of the country's semiconductor sector, the government, state authorities, research institutions, academia and the chip industry in order to build a strong and competitive ecosystem for Slovakia's semiconductor industry. "The main mission of our chip competence centre is to support the development of the Slovak semiconductor industry," said the centre's director Michal Micjan. He noted that the centre can help small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups to grow. am