MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 9 December 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 8 December): HUMENNE/BRATISLAVA – The electrification of the Banovce nad Ondavou–Humenne railway line has been completed, with trains set to begin operating on the route as of 14 December, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (nominee of Smer-SD) announced in the town of Humenne (Presov region) on Monday. Modernisation work on the Zemplin railway line, worth €221 million and financed from the Recovery Plan, began in May 2023. During construction, rail services were suspended and passengers had to rely on replacement bus services. "We now have a new modern line, fully electrified, with a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour. Ending the need to change trains on this line will significantly shorten journeys to work or home. I'm pleased, and I believe that, as of Sunday, all the people who live in this region will be pleased as well," said the minister. For passengers, this means the end of replacement transport. Head of rail passenger carrier ZSSK Ivana Pinosova said that before its closure, the line had been used by roughly one million passengers. The aim now is to win back as many as possible, as many people have switched to other means of transport during the suspension. BRATISLAVA - The Tripartite Council [representatives of government, employers and employees — ed.note] has unanimously approved a bill on equal pay for men and women, Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) announced after a meeting of the Economic and Social Council on Monday. According to Tomas, the legislation on applying the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value transposes the relevant EU regulation into Slovak legislation. "The Tripartite Council unanimously endorsed the new law on equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value. The law passed without any comments from the social partners — so employers, trade unions and the Slovak Towns and Villages Association fully agree with it," said the minister. He stressed that employers will be required to introduce a remuneration structure. "This means that work will be assessed on the basis of four clear criteria: complexity, responsibility, arduousness and working conditions. In addition, other so-called soft skills, such as social and communication abilities, will also be evaluated," added Tomas. BRATISLAVA – The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) have once again criticised the proposal to transform the Whistleblowers Protection Office (UOO) into a new office, and they've requested that Parliament should discuss a report on UOO's activities last year before a decision is made on the proposal, MP Marian Caucik (KDH) told a press conference on Monday. "We called for this back at last week's parliamentary session, and we'll call for it again during the vote on Tuesday (9 December): that the UOO report, which we've had here in Parliament since March, should be given priority over this bill. All opposition parties agree on this. In my opinion, this is a normal way to discuss this law - let's hear the report for the previous year, presented by office chair Zuzana Dlugosova, and then have a real discussion about whether there's been a problem with the functioning of the authority or not," he said. KDH once again criticised the proposal to change the office, and it doesn't believe that there is a problem with the way in which it functions. It sees the proposed changes as political revenge by the governing coalition, and it's calling for the proposal not to be discussed at this session. The Christian Democrats also pointed out that the coalition hasn't reached agreement on the final form of the bill. BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok reiterated after Monday's meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels that Slovakia rejects the mechanism of mandatory solidarity in the redistribution of asylum applicants, and he stated that the country should receive an exemption in view of the tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees that it has taken in since the outbreak of the war, TASR learnt on the same day. Under the agreement, EU-member states in 2026 must either accept a set number of migrants, pay a financial contribution for those that they don't accept, or provide alternative support to countries most burdened by migration pressure. These include Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy. Some states, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, may be exempt from contributing next year, but Slovakia is not among them. "I stressed to my colleagues that I don't understand why Slovakia wasn't included among the countries eligible for an exemption, as we have taken in tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine. For this reason, we couldn't support this part concerning the pact on illegal migration," said Sutaj Estok. He further emphasised that Slovakia, alongside Hungary, will not support any of the solidarity alternatives unless talks on an exemption for Slovakia are reopened. He also stated that the government doesn't support the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum as a whole, as reflected in the government manifesto. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party claims that the state has unlawfully released the Agrofert conglomerate from its obligation to clear up pollution at the former site of the Istrochem chemicals plant in Bratislava, pointing to new documents that it's obtained, TASR learnt on Monday. In its response, the Environment Ministry stated that PS, through its remarks, is confirming that it doesn't want to remove the worst environmental damage in Bratislava and, moreover, doesn't understand decisions that were made in the past beyond the remit of the Environment Ministry. PS claimed that Agrofert acquired Istrochem along with its environmental damage, and the privatisation contract required the company to invest €33 million primarily in environmental measures. "New documents, which have not been published until now, show that the district office ruled in favour of Agrofert on the basis of investments that have very little or no connection to removing environmental damage," said Tamara Stohlova (PS), who is also a vice-chair of the House agriculture and environment committee. According to her, the investments included, for example, the purchase of a tanker, the reconstruction of an administrative building, the installation of a public address system on the premises, the reconstruction of a railway siding, and the expansion of a waste dump in another municipality. Stohlova noted that decisions regarding the environmental damage at Istrochem were made four times – once in 2016 and three times in 2025. "Today, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba is brandishing these decisions as the reason why, supposedly, the state alone must pay for the clean-up. Yet he still has the legal option to challenge at least three of the 2025 decisions," she underlined. She called on the minister to challenge this year's decisions, adding that PS is supplementing its complaint to the prosecution service with the latest findings. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia and Azerbaijan are friendly countries and strategic partners, and they want to further deepen their mutual relations and cooperation in the future, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev told a joint press conference following their meeting in Bratislava on Monday. The meeting took place on the occasion of the first-ever official visit by an Azerbaijani head of state to Slovakia. "Today's meeting took place in a very open and friendly atmosphere, as the Slovak Republic considers Azerbaijan to be a friendly country with which it maintains good relations. Slovakia views Azerbaijan as a country that is a strategic player in the region," noted Pellegrini. The Slovak head of state pointed out that Azerbaijan is the strongest economy in the South Caucasus, lies at a crossroads between Europe and Asia, and is a country with rich energy resources. "I'm very pleased that our trade and economic cooperation is growing significantly, and today, together with the president and both delegations, we've confirmed that the potential is very great," he said. According to him, both delegations also confirmed their interest in developing a strategic partnership between the countries. Mutual cooperation should be intensified in several areas, including defence, energy, modern technologies, tourism, and culture. Pellegrini explained that Azerbaijan, along with other countries, can play a key role in diversifying oil and gas supplies. He believes that expert teams from both countries will continue to discuss ways to utilise Azerbaijan's energy capacity. Aliyev declared that Azerbaijan is ready to supply Slovakia with any amount of gas at any time, if necessary. jrg