MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 10 January 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 9 January): BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-General (PG) Maros Zilinka intends to file lawsuits with the administrative court in Bratislava because Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) didn't respond to Zilinka's protests regarding the ambulance services tender and failed to remedy a serious breach of the law, TASR reported on Friday based on information published by Zilinka on a social network. "On 5 January 2026, the health minister failed to respond to the protests that I filed against the ministry's decisions dated 8 October 2025, which halted the proceedings regarding applications for a permit to operate emergency medical service ambulances," stated Zilinka, He explained that in the proceedings regarding the protests, the health minister "failed to remedy fundamental breaches of the law, having the nature of a series of unlawful acts via which the Health Ministry acted to the detriment of the rights of the parties to the administrative proceedings, for which reason I'll file 32 administrative lawsuits regarding these matters". BRATISLAVA - For Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD), maintaining the current momentum of Slovakia's foreign policy at both bilateral and multilateral levels will be crucial in 2026, as defending Slovakia's national interests and supporting economic diplomacy remain a priority. Blanar, speaking in an interview with TASR, stated that the biggest challenges for foreign policy this year will again be developments in Ukraine, but also the administration of the United States of America. "The situation in Ukraine unfortunately now absolutely determines foreign policy in the European area, but at the same time there is also, of course, a new security arrangement and the new view of the American administration on its role in the world after it approved its national security strategy. The new security strategy absolutely rejects everything that previous US administrations promoted globally, and this will be a major challenge, which, in my view, will have an impact on the entire world," the minister stated. He said that it is necessary, therefore, for the European Union to respond appropriately and to use the space to build new security and trade relations. The head of Slovak diplomacy believes that the United States supports not only a sovereign approach on its own part, but also a sovereign approach by EU-member states. "This is a completely new paradigm, and we need to find our place in it and be able to promote our interests," added Blanar. BRATISLAVA - Chaos persists in the new state energy aid system, and people are unable to resolve related problems, with the biggest difficulty concerning higher heating prices, opposition representatives from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) warned on Friday. Households will first have to pay the full increased bills and then hope to receive an energy cheque from the state to compensate for part of the costs. "All that has emerged here resembles a vicious circle. If you have a problem with energy aid, you call the hotline and they send you to a client centre. At the client centre you are given a form to take to the Economy Ministry, but as the ministry is still non-functional after a hacker attack, nothing can be handled at the client centre and your energy aid problem remains. The circle closes and you have to start all over again," said SaS MP Karol Galek. Galek expects the most dramatic impact on people in the case of heating prices. While electricity and gas prices will be adjusted for state aid directly in bills, this won't apply to heating, and people will pay the full increased price. Only afterwards should they receive assistance in the form of an energy cheque. According to SaS, responsibility for these problems lies with the "invisible" Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD), who failed to prepare a functioning system of targeted energy aid over two years. The opposition party therefore called on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to assign political responsibility and dismiss the minister. The Economy Ministry responded by pointing out that the ministry had recently been run by the SaS party, which hadn't even attempted to create a targeted energy assistance system, even though it had always loudly demanded such targeting. "Instead of solutions, they left behind a broken system in which the state resigned from real regulation and allowed energy suppliers to charge the maximum possible prices. The symbol of SaS's 'expertise' has become more bars drunk dry in Dubai than functional energy measures," the ministry said in a statement provided to TASR by its spokeswoman Maria Pavlusik. BRATISLAVA/VODERADY - The state wants to recover the money used in the disputed purchase of the former Voderady outlet near Trnava, Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD), who is also serving as acting deputy prime minister for the Recovery Plan and a knowledge-based economy, said on Friday. Drucker was responding to journalists' questions ahead of a cabinet session. He added that he intends to submit a comprehensive document on the issue to the government later. The office of former deputy prime minister Peter Kmec (Voice-SD), who left the post last year, provided nearly €17 million to the National Innovation and Technology Centre for purchasing the property. "If we find a transparent approach in terms of scope and content for such an innovation centre, one that is credible with partners who will stand behind it, and with the understanding that it won't be built entirely on the state's shoulders, then let's do it," said Drucker. However, he expects that if such cooperation emerges, the state will be entitled to a return of the purchase price at some point. "I consider this key to public trust, and then all speculation about what the price should have been will probably disappear. If we can find partners who are willing to pay an entry price," added the minister. BRATISLAVA - Following the cabinet meeting on Friday, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) stated that changes will be prepared concerning protection against airspace violations by small drones. The minister believes that the state needs to be able to respond to drone attacks in times of peace, and he announced that resolutions that will oblige Slovakia to prepare a procedure will be submitted. "Many countries have enshrined in their constitutions that the armed forces will deploy and use their weapons primarily in a state of war and in times of war. However, this doesn't take into account threats such as those that we've witnessed recently in Poland, and therefore we must be prepared for such a contingency so that the armed forces can respond to violations of our airspace with atypical means; that is, smaller drones," he stated. BRATISLAVA - The Specialised Criminal Court has suspended criminal proceedings against defendant Norbert B. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons) in a bribery case, the defendant's lawyer Marek Para told TASR, adding that this was done due to changes in the Penal Code related to the assessment of testimony from cooperating defendants. It was 360tka website and SME daily that broke the news first. Para told TASR that he disagrees with the suspension and is requesting that the trial should continue. "We request that the proceedings should continue, as the indictment has clearly collapsed and the grounds for suspicion have ceased to exist. Therefore, we request that the proceedings should continue and that Norbert B. be acquitted of the charges," stated Para. According to the charges, Norbert B. arranged a bribe for Marian Kucerka, then an investigator of the National Crime Agency (NAKA), via former NAKA official Bernard Slobodnik. The aim was to help businessman Stefan Ziga, who was suspected of economic crime. Norbert B. denies the charges. Stefan Ziga was legally convicted of corruption in October 2025 and sentenced to a fine of €100,000. Kucerka was also legally convicted of accepting bribes. In his case, however, the courts have reopened proceedings concerning the sentence imposed. Norbert B. also faces charges in the Stock Farmer and Purgatory cases. am