MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 6 January 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 5 January): BUDAPEST - Ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia can rely on the Hungarian government to support them in everything and to reject any form of collective guilt, stated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at an international press conference on Monday in response to a question about his stance on the amendment to the Slovak Penal Code that relates to the so-called Benes Decrees, the TASR correspondent in Budapest has reported. The Hungarian premier said that Budapest is trying to understand this Slovak law, but the situation isn't simple. "There are specific legal cases that will need to be addressed. Once I have a clear view of the matter, I'll speak to the Slovak prime minister [Robert Fico (Smer-SD)]," added Orban. Students from Hungarian universities organised a demonstration in Budapest on Saturday (3 January) evening against the new Slovak law protecting the Benes Decrees. According to the amendment to the Slovak Penal Code, which came into effect at the end of December, anyone who publicly questions the post-war settlement, which deprived thousands of ethnic Hungarians of their property and citizenship, can be sentenced to six months in prison, the index.hu website reported on Friday. Slovak President Peter Pellegrini signed the amendment before Christmas. Among other things, it establishes the crime of questioning the post-war Benes Decrees. BRATISLAVA - MP for the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Martin Smilnak, who was involved in a traffic accident in December and then tested positive for alcohol, will resign from his parliamentary seat, TASR has learnt from his video posted on social media on Monday. Smilnak added that he isn't leaving public life. "We live in a country in which people have become accustomed to politicians being untouchable and not being held accountable for their mistakes. That's not good, and we want to do things differently in KDH. I made a mistake and I'll pay for it. I've decided to resign from my seat in Parliament," he said. Smilnak won't leave public life and won't remain silent when the government or politicians act in their own interests or against the interests of the public. He wants to continue to offer solutions in the areas of education, the future of children and a better life in Slovakia. He also expressed his gratitude for the support shown to him during a difficult time, but also to those who "still believe that politics can be done decently". KDH respects Smilnak's decision, considering it to be an effort to set a new political culture in Slovakia. "The Christian Democratic Movement and its representatives uphold values in every situation and don't shy away from responsibility," said KDH in its response, thanking Smilnak for his work for the party and the public. Smilnak's traffic accident occurred in Presov region in the afternoon of 28 December. After his car collided with a deer, which was killed, the police measured 0.48 parts per thousand of alcohol in his blood. Smilnak's driving licence was confiscated. The case is being handled by the police. BRATISLAVA - The Smer-SD party can imagine post-election cooperation even with the extra-parliamentary far-right Republic party, House Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) has said in an end-of-year interview for TASR, adding that it's an entity that needs to be spoken to. According to Gaspar, Smer-SD will hold talks with parties that at least partially overlap with its values. The party isn't reluctant to cooperate with the Christian Democrats (KDH), either, he said, adding that KDH would be able to push through more things from its programme in cooperation with Smer-SD than with the other opposition parties. Gaspar told TASR that Smer is still a social democratic party, and the parties with which it's willing to cooperate after an election must have values that overlap with this at least partially. "I believe that Voice-SD will somehow recover from the state that it's in today. I even believe that national forces could also be represented, either through the Slovak National Party (SNS) again, or maybe through the Republic party," he said. According to Gaspar, internal changes are underway in the Republic party. "And it's one thing to criticise, and something else to govern," he said. "It's still a legitimate entity that is a part of our political arena in line with the laws of this country. And its members are in the European Parliament today. So yes, it's an entity that needs to be spoken to," he stated. BRATISLAVA - Cooperation between the opposition parties in Parliament is standard, but the position of the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) during the parliamentary vote on the latest amendment to the Slovak Constitution was a mistake, opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Branislav Groehling has said in an end-of-year interview for TASR. "We have standard cooperation among the opposition parties in Parliament. We're able to agree on individual votes or on protests. As for the vote on the constitutional amendment, I maintain that it was a mistake on KDH's part. We warned that the amendment would be followed by infringement moves by the European Commission, that there was a threat of a lawsuit, which eventually appeared. Our colleagues from KDH bear direct responsibility for this," stated Groehling. Groehling also criticised the fact that the Christian Democrats supported the constitutional amendment even though it was sponsored by the government. "If some conservative voters are dissatisfied with KDH's actions, then in SaS there are some moderate conservatives who have a clear position that no one should engage in doing deals, voting or bargaining with Smer-SD on anything," he added. BRATISLAVA - A patient and his relatives attacked a doctor and a nurse in the accident and emergency ward at Ruzinov Hospital in Bratislava on Saturday, 3 January, TASR was told by spokesperson for the University Hospital in Bratislava (UNB) Eva Kliska on Monday. According to her, the attack was thwarted thanks to the rapid intervention of a private security service (SBS) and the police, and the medical staff didn't suffer any physical injuries. The police have charged the man with the crime of making dangerous threats. Kliska elaborated that the incident took place on Saturday morning in accident and emergency, where the patient had been brought by the emergency medical service. "The patient was already aggressive when his blood was being taken, yelling at the nurse that she didn't know what she was doing and that it was hurting him. His aggression escalated when the nurse wanted to test him for COVID-19. His wife burst in and also yelled at the doctor and nurse. The patient began threatening to kill the attending medical staff, saying that they would wait for them outside," said the spokeswoman. Kliska added that the doctor immediately called SBS. "Meanwhile, other relatives of the patient stormed into the treatment room, shouting at our staff and making threats. The patient cornered the doctor, repeatedly threatening to kill her, then grabbed the nurse by the throat. Thanks to the rapid intervention of SBS and 15 police officers - an emergency motorised unit, the attack was successfully repelled and the victims weren't physically harmed," she said. The spokesperson added that the patient was subsequently taken away by the police. "He's now been charged with the crime of making dangerous threats when the target of the threats was a protected person - a health-care worker," she stated. am