Bozik: ZMOS to Continue Promoting More Stable Income for Municipalities in 2026

Bratislava, 31 December (TASR) - The Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) wants to continue promoting more stable and predictable income for towns and municipalities in the new year 2026, as well as protecting investments in their area, including EU funds, ZMOS chairman Jozef Bozik said in a statement. "Next year, local authorities will also enter an election period, which naturally brings a higher degree of political dynamism. This makes it all the more important that municipal politics is not subject to political games and delays, and that municipal elections don't become a tool for political skirmishes, but rather a space for serving the people, ensuring stability in the region, and building trust in local democracy," stated Bozik. ZMOS declares that it will continue to promote more stable and predictable income for towns and villages, protect investments in their areas, including EU funds, and set guarantees for the financing of transferred powers so that the performance of the state in municipalities and towns doesn't rely on their own budgets. In the area of financing, in 2025 the association mainly advocated that towns and villages shouldn't experience short-term cash shortages, which subsequently paralyse their normal operations. According to the ZMOS head, EU funds and investments were a hot topic in 2025. "ZMOS publicly opposed the freezing of €200 million earmarked for regional projects, as this was a direct intervention in the planned investments of municipalities, towns, and regions. We appreciate that a decision was ultimately made to cancel the freeze and unblock the funds," he stated. am