MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 26 January 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 25 January): BRATISLAVA - The coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS) calls on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to reject, on behalf of Slovakia, the offered membership in the so-called Board of Peace, as Slovakia cannot afford such a membership, neither due to economic reasons nor in terms of the principles on which international cooperation should be based, TASR learnt from SNS spokesperson Zuzana Skopcova on Sunday. SNS added that any other position in this "elitist club" is also out of the question. The spokesperson pointed out that permanent membership in the newly established global organisation, initiated by United States President Donald Trump, is to cost one billion dollars. "It is clear that by this step Donald Trump is bypassing existing and internationally recognised organisations such as the United Nations and is creating his own structures in which, as chairman, he would decide on the future of the world and on who will and will not be a member. The status of such membership is completely undemocratic and clearly distorted in favour of the USA," Skopcova said. BRATISLAVA - Parliamentary vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) calls for caution regarding the Board of Peace, while the leader of the opposition's Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Branislav Groehling views it as a business venture of US President Donald Trump. Both made the remarks on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday Gaspar also suggested during the televised debate that one of the topics of the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and French President Emmanuel Macron could be the possible involvement of France in the future construction of a new nuclear power plant at Jaslovske Bohunice. At the same time, he underlined that the agreement with the United States does not bind Slovakia to anything. "I am concerned that someone is preparing responsibility laundering, some kind of cover for further decisions, (…) so they can say that everything that will now happen is in the name of some peace and condoned by the countries that will take part on this board. The second important dimension is the constitutional and legal question of whether such an entry is even possible," Gaspar said regarding joining the Board of Peace. BRATISLAVA - Inconsistent data on residents in state databases may have affected the payment of energy aid for about 1 percent to 1.5 percent of households, not 10 percent as claimed by some media, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) stated on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday. "Inconsistent data affected the payment or granting of energy aid to 1 percent to 1.5 percent of households. That one percent or 1.5 percent of households that believe they are entitled to energy aid and were not granted it have the option to visit a client service office or call the call centre. They can file an objection. If it is found that the data were inconsistent due to a third party, we can send the energy aid retroactively," Sakova said. "However, if it is found that someone who is complaining has 16 permanent residents registered in their three-room flat because they had tenants there and did not deregister them from permanent residence, then unfortunately all the incomes of the individual tenants were counted within that energy household," the minister explained, giving an example of why energy aid was not paid. BRATISLAVA - The Constitutional Court is excessively burdened by an agenda of complaints over delays in court proceedings, which make up as much as 30 percent of all cases it handles, with has prompted the Justice Ministry to draft an amendment to the Courts Act under which delays in proceedings would be dealt with primarily by the superior court, as it is best acquainted with the conditions at the court where the delays arose, Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) said in an interview for TASR. In Susko's view, delays in proceedings are one of the serious problems of the Slovak judiciary. According to the minister, the reform of the judicial map has also had a negative impact on delays, as it prolonged individual proceedings, especially in Bratislava and Kosice, where courts were integrated and agendas were transferred from one court to another. This, he said, caused further delays in proceedings. "At present, in addressing delays in proceedings, the system is set up so that procedural parties can turn to the Constitutional Court with complaints about delays, including claims of damage, and this places an excessive burden on it," Susko explained. The closer the resolution of delays is set to the court where the delay occurred, the more efficiently they can be resolved, according to Susko. ko