MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 1 December 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 30 November): BRATISLAVA - Changes involving the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers (UOO) do not mean its abolition or a threat to its agenda, Education Minister and acting Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and Knowledge-based Economy Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) stated on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday. "I reject fearmongering that this is about abolishing the office. It is a merger of two offices, and the agenda protecting whistleblowers of anti-social behaviour will remain in place," Drucker said. Drucker also rejected suggestions that changing the office into another entity could endanger the drawing of funds from the Recovery Plan, as he does not perceive any threat of sanctions or suspension of payments for Slovakia. "Questions came from the European Commission and we answered them. What everyone wants to know is whether the ongoing and open cases will have continuity, whether this office, or rather the agenda, will continue," Drucker stated. BRATISLAVA - Although the Constitution's Act on Fiscal Responsibility does not specify when the government must ask Parliament for a vote of confidence once public debt reaches a critical threshold, the coalition has no interest in delaying the process unnecessarily and the vote may take place as early as during the current House session, Jan Richter, the head of the parliamentary caucus of the Smer-SD party, said on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday. A week ago, the government's two-year exemption from the strictest debt brake penalties expired. One of these penalties is the obligation to request a parliamentary vote of confidence. "As far as I know, the Constitution does not state whether this must happen the next day or within a specific timeframe. But it is not in our interest to prolong or drag this out unnecessarily. I realistically expect that it may happen during this session," Richter declared. According to him, the request may take various forms. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) may link the confidence vote to a specific government bill or to the opposition's motion of no confidence in the government, which is already on the agenda of the current parliamentary session and scheduled for Wednesday afternoon (3 December). Opposition's SaS leader Branislav Groehling, Richter's opposite number on the show, also believes the government will attach the confidence request to another proposal, although he considers this improper. "If the prime minister links it to something else, it is pure cowardice. Because he's not sure he would win a standalone confidence vote, as they are so divided and have so many problems... They do not have the courage to bring such a proposal to Parliament on its own," Groehling said. BRATISLAVA - The opposition's Progressive Slovakia (PS) party does not propose to abolish the so-called Benes Decrees or reopen them, and accepts them as part of Slovakia's history and legal order — it only proposes that no new legal facts or uncertainty over property ownership arise on their legal basis, MP Zuzana Mesterova (PS) stated on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (the Slovak National Party nominee) responded that the Benes Decrees are a closed matter. According to him, PS aims to undermine all property rights in Slovakia. "These are 80-year-old documents. They also affect the rights of property owners of Slovak nationality. In 2019, the State Land Fund filed 600 motions and expropriated several hectares of land in favour of the state solely by invoking these historical documents," Mesterova said. According to Taraba, the issue of the Benes Decrees has troubled no one; they remain part of the legal system in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia and have also been accepted by the EU. "The issue you are opening could lead to, for example, land on which a television station or homes stand suddenly being claimed by some citizen of the Republic of Hungary, saying it belongs to him and demanding settlement," the minister noted. He also considers the issue closed between Slovakia and Hungary, and warned PS not to play any nationality card. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia has improved its position in average household financial wealth, yet it continues to lag behind other European countries due to low financial accumulation, high indebtedness and a limited ability to build liquid savings, economic analyst at the Confederation of Trade Unions (KOZ) Jan Kosc assessed on Sunday. Although the financial assets of Slovak households have increased statistically, their real purchasing power and capacity to ensure a higher standard of living remain limited. In 2023, the net financial assets of Slovak households reached €9,160, the lowest among European countries. Despite the relatively slow growth of net financial assets, Slovakia rose last year to €10,580. However, according to the analyst, this growth is nominal, with real appreciation weakened by high inflation, which ranked among the highest in the EU in 2024 and 2025. ko