MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 28 December 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 27 December): BRATISLAVA – The opening of the D1 Lietavska Lucka–Dubna Skala motorway section via the Visnove tunnel could definitively resolve one of Slovakia's biggest transport problems, according to Transport Minister Jozef Raz (nominee of Smer-SD). "The time saving when travelling through the Visnove tunnel will be on the order of tens of minutes compared with the current route through Strecno," Raz has told TASR in a year-end interview. When the D1 section with the Visnove tunnel was officially handed over on 22 December, the minister admitted on social media that he had been looking forward to this day the most since taking office. He described it as the nicest Christmas gift for motorists. "This cursed rock — the biggest transport scar in Slovakia has finally been healed. I believe motorists will experience many happy kilometres here and appreciate that the hours they often spent in traffic jams near Strecno are once and for all behind us," Raz said. As the minister further told TASR, motorway bypasses of Tvrdosin and Kosice were also opened this year, as well as the R2 section Krivan–Mytna. "We also managed to complete tenders for all three missing sections of the Kysuce D3 motorway and sign contracts with contractors. We even managed to lay the foundation stone on one section, specifically the part with the second tube of the Horelica tunnel," Raz pointed out. "In this way, we are keeping the promise we made – to kickstart construction in Slovakia," he noted. According to the minister, the benefits of newly built motorway sections have became apparent almost immediately since they were put into operation. The most significant effect is the shift of transit freight traffic away from towns and villages, as well as from lower-category roads. In rail transport, a major project from the Recovery and Resilience Plan was completed this year, namely the electrification of the Banovce nad Ondavou–Humenne line. Recently, the modernised railway line between Cadca and the border with the Czech Republic was also handed over. "The comprehensive reconstruction of the railway section between Devinska Nova Ves and Marchegg has also been completed, strengthening cross-border connections between Slovakia and Austria. We now also have an electrified section from Haniska to Moldava nad Bodvou," Raz added. The minister described the launch of the Bratislava–Kosice air route as a major achievement, noting its strong popularity. "We are pleased that after six years we have once again managed to introduce this fast and safe connection between our two largest cities," the transport minister added. BRATISLAVA - The staffing situation in the Police Corps improved in 2025, with more than 1,200 new police officers joining the force, while only about 400 left — hence, the staffing increased by around 800 officers in total, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) has told TASR in a year-end interview. The minister considers such an increase a success. According to him, the number of police officers did stagnate in the last ten years. "Other countries within the European Union have the same problems. I also discussed in Brussels with many of my colleagues that the problem of understaffing exists, whether in Hungary, the Czech Republic, or many western countries," the minister said. As the interior minister added, around 840 police officers joined the force in 2024. However, more than 2,000 left due to increased service pensions. He added that 7,300 people expressed interest in working in the police in 2025. He attributes the increased interest mainly to a recruitment campaign launched by the ministry in March. "We definitely want to continue the campaign, possibly with some more modern elements," Sutaj Estok claimed. He added that the police are currently focusing mainly on occasional outreach to attract new employees. "Whether it is various sporting events taking place across the country, from marathons to different sports activities, the police will now always have their own stand there." According to the minister, the Interior Ministry has also reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry on the continuation of the €5,000 recruitment bonus in the coming years. BRATISLAVA - Coalition's Voice-SD party wants to reopen the issue of removing the single nationwide electoral district from the Slovak Constitution, but it has not yet found sufficient support to push the change through, House Chair and Voice-SD vice-chair Richard Rasi has said in a year-end interview for TASR. "We have not yet found the support. I am surprised that even parties that are traditionally regional haven't backed it," he said. Rasi added that Voice-SD still wants to reopen the issue and plans to do so if a constitutional amendment is tabled to extend the term of office for mayors and local councillors. He also pointed out that the provision stating that Slovakia forms a single electoral district for parliamentary elections had been inserted into the Constitution during the previous government. According to Rasi, removing it would not bring any concrete changes to the electoral system, but he finds it important to make adjustments. Rasi believes that every region should have representation in Parliament corresponding to its size. Under the current model, he said, there is a risk that decisions about Slovakia could be made exclusively by Bratislava-based lawmakers. Roman Michelko, who chairs the coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS) parliamentary caucus, thinks the proposal to remove the single electoral district from the Constitution stands no chance of success in the current parliamentary term. "It is opposed by Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), it is also opposed by Smer-SD, there is no constitutional majority for this. Basically, the only parties that want it are Voice-SD and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), and that is definitely not enough," he said in an interview for TASR. In his view, the change may be a topic for academic debate, but with the current composition of Parliament the odds of it passing are zero. Voice-SD pushed for removing the single electoral district from the Constitution during its most recent amendment. However, the proposal failed to gain sufficient support in the House, including from within the coalition. BRATISLAVA – This year, many key changes and measures were adopted by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, ranging from reform of social services financing and labour market support measures to the removal of a 20-year discrimination against mothers whose pensions were lower due to time spent on maternity and parental leave, Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) has told TASR in a year-end interview. According to Tomas, Slovakia has managed to keep unemployment at historic lows, to which measures from the Labour Ministry also contributed. These included the continuation of the Right to a First Job project for young people, under which 2,400 people were employed, with 75 percent remaining in the labour market without any state support or subsidies. A new ministry initiative entitled Work Instead of Benefits also came into force this year. Its principle is that anyone who can work but refuses a suitable job offer will lose, or have reduced, their material need benefit. "Current figures show that we have already managed to employ around 900 people in this way. In the case of 130 people, we have initiated administrative proceedings leading to the withdrawal of material need benefits, because they either refused a suitable job offer or failed to start work," Tomas said. He added that these figures will rise rapidly, as it was first necessary to identify people who are not registered as unemployed but are recipients of material need benefits. "However, we have 9,500 people who were rejected by employers themselves. We therefore immediately deployed our employment programmes, so-called financial incentives for employers, and prepared measures so that employers would also hire people who find it hard to get a job," he said. The minister also highlighted as a positive the removal of a 20-year discrimination against parents, especially mothers, who cared for children during maternity and parental leave and therefore had lower pensions. Under the new rules, this period will be included in the calculations of pensions as if they had worked normally. This measure is set to apply not only to future mothers but also retroactively, with pensions recalculated by the Social Insurance Agency with effect from 1 January 2026. mf