MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 21 November 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 20 November): BRATISLAVA - The coalition Voice-SD party can't guarantee that its MPs will vote for confidence in cabinet members if the agreements in the coalition aren't adhered to, Voice-SD vice-chair and Education Minister Tomas Drucker told a news conference held at the Education Ministry on Thursday. There are several no-confidence motions in ministers on the agenda of the next House session. Drucker reiterated that Voice-SD is demanding that the same standards should be applied when deciding on the resignations of government members. "We have an upcoming session, there are several proposals, and, I'm speaking very frankly, there are also no-confidence motions in members of the government. We can't guarantee that members of our caucus will vote for confidence in these members if agreements aren't respected," stated Drucker. According to Drucker, Voice-SD will always support the coalition as long as it fulfils the government manifesto. "But we're tired of tolerating things not related to the government manifesto just because we are decent," he said, adding that the party has been watching quarrels for three years, which he thinks is enough. KRIVAN/BRATISLAVA - Slovakia cannot continue in 2026 with the same pace and type of fiscal consolidation as in 2024 and 2025, said Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in his speech at the opening of the R2 Krivan–Mytna (Banska Bystrica region) expressway section on Thursday. The prime minister stated that there's a need to stimulate economic growth, and so he called on Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) to "pull prepared infrastructure projects out of the drawer". Fico noted that the R2 section between Krivan and Mytna was financed from the state budget. He added that the government currently has to consolidate instead of investing in new motorways and expressways. "We're literally throwing money into the air now because we must keep to certain figures due to the fact that in 2023 we inherited the worst public finances in the entire European Union," he said. According to the premier, consolidation cannot continue next year in the same manner as in the past two years. "There is no more room to raise taxes, no more room to cut social-state standards; we must move forward through economic growth," he said. He therefore urged the transport minister to bring forward prepared but unfunded infrastructure projects, stating that the government will do everything it can to find money for the smaller ones. KOSICE/BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's first operational supercomputer, named Perun, was officially launched at the Technical University in Kosice (TUKE) on Thursday, with TUKE Rector Peter Mesaros announcing that the total investment via the Recovery Plan exceeds €21 million. Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) stated that the launch of the Bratislava-based supercomputer, which will be interconnected with the one in Kosice, is expected in the spring of next year. This forms part of the national supercomputer project, one of Slovakia's most significant digital-modernisation initiatives, which, according to the Informatisation Ministry, will place the country among European states with high-performance computing infrastructure. "I'm very pleased that right here in Kosice, the metropolis of the east, we've managed in a truly short time to implement a major milestone that moves Slovak informatisation forward. The Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry supports Slovak scientists, and this is one of our first tangible results," said Migal. BRATISLAVA - Zilina Region Prosecutor Tomas Balogh has accused Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka of unlawful interference in criminal proceedings, according to a letter sent to the Prosecutors' Council and the parliamentary defence and security committee. Zilinka rejects the allegations, calling the claims in the letter lies. The issue was discussed at a special emergency session of the committee on Thursday, which will resume on Monday (24 November). The opposition fears that the committee leadership may be attempting to influence the prosecution service. "I believe that from a certain point onwards, the prosecutor-general showed interest in these criminal cases – in determining the legal qualification of the acts of the accused, in concluding the proceedings swiftly regardless of the state of evidence, and in a particular way of deciding the merits," committee chair Richard Gluck (Smer-SD) read from the letter at the start of the session. He also informed the committee that Zilinka hadn't permitted Balogh to speak before the committee. Gluck noted that Balogh has stated in a further letter that he's currently seeking whistleblower status, adding that the letter is 15 pages long, and committee members will need time to familiarise themselves with it before any discussion. The session was therefore adjourned until Monday. BRATISLAVA - If a parliamentary election had been held in November, it would have been won by the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) on 23.3 percent of votes, followed by the governing Smer-SD (17.1 percent) and Voice-SD (10.4 percent) parties, according to a recent poll carried out by AKO agency on behalf of Joj 24 television channel. Ending up fourth would have been the opposition 'Slovakia' party (8.2 percent), followed by Freedom and Solidarity (SaS - 7.5 percent), extra-parliamentary Republic (6.9 percent), Christian Democrats (KDH - 6.5 percent), and Democrats (5.3 percent). Parties failing to make it past the 5-percent election threshold would have included the junior governing Slovak National Party (SNS - 4.6 percent), Hungarian Alliance (3.4 percent), 'We Are Family' (3 percent), 'Right to Truth' (2.5 percent), Countryside Party (0.4 percent), the Communist Party of Slovakia and far-right LSNS (both 0.3 percent). BRATISLAVA - MP Jana Valova (Smer-SD) has resigned her parliamentary seat, Smer-SD MP Jan Mazgut told TASR on Thursday, adding that Vladimir Macasek will take her place in Parliament. It was TV Markiza television channel that broke the news first. "I have information that she has resigned her parliamentary seat. I don't know any further details," Mazgut told TASR, adding that she should be replaced by Macasek, who is the Smer-SD district chairman in the town of Kysucke Nove Mesto (Zilina region). Party spokeswoman Lubica Koncalova stated that the MP "has today requested in writing to be released from the Smer party parliamentary caucus". jrg