MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 27 January 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 26 January): BRATISLAVA - A draft amendment to Parliament's Rules of Procedure will be the first point on the agenda of the January House session, which is due to begin on Tuesday (27 January), House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) told a press conference on Monday, pointing to the need to ensure that the legislative body functions properly at a basic level. Rasi confirmed that the proposed changes are a response to the conflicts that occurred at the December session. "These were unprecedented situations," he said, accusing the opposition of instigating them and preventing Parliament, through obstruction, from carrying out its basic function of passing laws. "What happened was an attack on democracy. The opposition tried to block a legislative body elected in democratic elections," stated Rasi. According to the House chair, the amendment to the Rules of Procedure introduces plenty of minor changes that should increase transparency when submitting legislative changes. "It also introduces a code of ethics, which is a strong demand from the public," he noted. The amendment includes an obligation for MPs to wear 'appropriate attire'. If this is violated, an MP may be expelled from the chamber. Visual aids will be prohibited, and a discrete zone will be created to prevent attacks on those taking the floor. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is filing a criminal complaint on suspicion of sabotage, as Parliament hasn't been able to debate submitted motions for dismissing individual cabinet members or the cabinet as a whole, party MP Maria Kolikova told a briefing held in front of the Prosecutor-General's Office on Monday. She added that the governing coalition has been deliberately avoiding these items on the agenda, with some motions waiting in Parliament for more than a year now. "We're facing truly unprecedented conduct by the governing coalition. For several months now, and in some cases for more than a year, the governing coalition hasn't allowed Parliament to hold the government accountable," she said, adding that the government must appear before Parliament if at least one fifth of MPs request the ouster of any minister or want to express no-confidence in the whole government. The party believes the primary responsibility lies with House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD). BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini has requested from the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry an analysis of documents related to Slovakia's invitation to join the Board of Peace, TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department on Monday. "If the Slovak Republic were to consider joining this initiative, we would need to know exactly what the legal framework for possible participation in the Board of Peace would be, what the financial costs would be, and what the constitutional procedure for approving the accession documents would be," said the head of state, adding that only after thoroughly reviewing all the information would it be possible to have a meaningful discussion. The President's Office has therefore officially asked the Foreign Ministry to disclose all internal and external analyses that it has at its disposal in connection with negotiating an agreement, as well as the possible risks if Slovakia joins the Board of Peace. At the same time, it requested information on whether the ministry considers the document received to be an international treaty under the Slovak Constitution or another type of international treaty, and whether it would be necessary to adopt a law in the event of ratifying such a treaty. PEZINOK - The trial concerning the alleged masterminds behind the murders of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova is resuming for the third time at the Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region) on Monday. Marian K. and Alena Zs. [names abbreviated due to legal reasons], who are facing charges in this case, are present in the courtroom. At the same time, the court will for the second time deal with the case concerning the planned murders of incumbent Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka and prosecutors Peter Sufliarsky and Daniel Lipsic. PEZINOK - The trial of Daniel B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], who is charged mainly with multiple extremist crimes, began at the Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region) on Monday, TASR reported on the same day. Defence lawyer David Lindtner submitted two procedural motions before the indictment was read aloud, but both of them were rejected by the court. The indictment was filed by a prosecutor concerning 26 actions described in 12 separate extremism-related counts, such as expressing sympathy for a movement aimed at suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms, distributing extremist materials, inciting national, racial and ethnic hatred, and dangerous electronic harassment committed out of hatred towards individuals based on nationality, religion or sexual orientation. ZILINA - The tapping of the foundation stone on Monday symbolically marked the start of construction work on the longest of the three missing sections of the D3 motorway in the Kysuce area of Zilina region. Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) attended the ceremony along with Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee). The section between the Zilina borough of Brodno and the town of Kysucke Nove Mesto has a total length of 11.2 kilometres, and, according to the signed contract, the work should take 1,307 days. According to Fico, Zilina region plays a very important role in central European transport. "There is probably no need to explain how important the connection from north to south is. Such a connection is vital not only for the people living in this region, but also for the whole of Slovakia and Europe," stressed Fico. In the public tender for the construction of the Zilina, Brodno-Kysucke Nove Mesto D3-motorway section, the most advantageous bid was submitted by a consortium of three construction companies led by Vahostav, which along with Metrostav DS and Duna Aszfalt, undertook to build the project for €398.7 million, ex-VAT. ko