MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 8 February 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 7 February): MILAN - Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel officially opened on Saturday the Slovak House in Milan, which will welcome visitors during the 2026 Winter Olympics. Casa Slovacca is located at a lucrative address in the historic Galleria Meravigli building, an elegant arcade in the centre of Milan. This place will come alive during the Games and will be filled with atmosphere, hospitality, and emotion, where flavours, music, traditions, and the modern spirit of Slovakia will come together. "I'm not only happy about the newly opened Slovak House, but also extremely proud, because the Slovak Olympic House is probably one of the most beautiful at these Winter Olympics, as other people have also said. We managed to acquire one of the most beautiful buildings available in the centre of Milan. ... I must thank our Honorary Consul Luigi Cuzzolino, who did the impossible to obtain this house for Slovakia. This is how diplomacy is done, both in sports and culture. I firmly believe that this house will be filled with good cheer for the next 15 days," said the Slovak head of state. On Friday (6 February), Pellegrini attended the opening ceremony of the 26th Winter Olympics at the San Siro Stadium. Before the ceremony began, he and Czech President Petr Pavel opened the Czech Olympic House to symbolically emphasise the close relations between the two countries, including in the area of sports diplomacy. "We wanted to show that relations between the Czechs and Slovaks are truly above standard, and we are probably the only two nations that open each other's Olympic Houses at the Olympics," noted Pellegrini. BRATISLAVA - I see no room for deciding on a new prosecutor-general (PG) next year, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), adding that the election will proceed according to the law. Fico stated that Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka is stepping in politics and has lost the government's trust. The premier believes that Zilinka has decided to enter the arena in the context of the upcoming parliamentary election. "The parliamentary election is scheduled to be held in September 2027, so it's obvious that the entire political life will end sometime in May, or June at the latest. July, August, and September will be a regular pre-election campaign. I don't think there is any room for us to decide in March or April on the PG whose term ends in 2027," said Fico. The prime minister also responded to Zilinka's statements this week that corruption in Slovakia ceased to be investigated last year, claiming that the prosecutor's office is in charge of criminal prosecution, which is failing, and Zilinka is blaming other people. "It's exactly the same as if Transport Minister Jozef Raz [a Smer-SD nominee] held a grandiose press conference and accused Justice Minister Boris Susko [Smer-SD] of not building bridges," he noted. Fico pointed out that if someone is prosecuted and legally convicted today, they are then excluded from political competition. According to him, this was the main reason why the prosecutor's office dismissed all cases related to the donation of military equipment to Ukraine. "They are creating conditions for a broad coalition to be formed after the parliamentary election, which will include Progressive Slovakia (PS) and the Democrats," he added. BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka has responded on social media to statements made by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), describing them as harsh personal attacks and slander. "I express my regret over the inappropriate, factually and professionally unfounded personal attacks and accusations by the premier," wrote Zilinka, emphasising that nothing will ever be more important to him than the rule of law and its protection. BRATISLAVA - Canadian rating agency Morningstar DBRS has maintained Slovakia's rating at A (low) with a stable outlook, confirming the rating given to the Slovak Republic in August 2025, TASR was told by the Finance Ministry's press department on Saturday. "The stable trend on Slovakia's credit ratings reflects Morningstar DBRS' view that the country's solid macroeconomic features and ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts balance challenges to the near-term economic outlook and lingering fiscal pressures," stated the agency in its evaluation. Morningstar DBRS pointed out that Slovakia's institutional and economic framework is anchored by its memberships of the European Union, the Euro area and NATO. "At the same time, Slovakia is expected to benefit from additional inflows in the country's capital account supported by EU-funds over the next few years," noted the agency, adding that Slovakia's external indebtedness remains at moderate levels overall. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak National Party (SNS) has called for the dismissal of Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Daniel Zmeko, appealing to Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to submit the proposal to President Peter Pellegrini, TASR was told by party spokeswoman Zuzana Skopcova on Saturday. The call is related to the dropping of criminal proceedings in the case of the donation of MiG-29 fighters and the S-300 air-defence system. SNS claims that the criminal proceedings were halted also based on repeated statements by the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, according to which Slovakia didn't suffer any damage and the donated military equipment was classified as surplus property. "It's an indisputable fact that if Defence Minister Robert Kalinak [Smer-SD] publicly expressed his disagreement with the suspension of criminal proceedings in this case, it's inconceivable that the president wouldn't act and leave Daniel Zmeko in the post of Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces," stressed the party. BRATISLAVA - It was a mistake for Slovakia to dispose of its MiG-29 fighters, for which it had no replacement at the time, President Peter Pellegrini posted on social media on Saturday, adding that he's convinced that the ability to protect its airspace is a sign of sovereignty for every country. "No other country has done this in such a way that, after donating its own weapons, it would be solely dependent on the help of its neighbours," wrote Pellegrini, adding that, as prime minister, he issued an order to keep the then Slovak MiG-29 fighters combat-ready until new American F-16 aircraft take over their role. Pellegrini rejects the claims of the then government that the MiG-29 fighters were just a pile of scrap metal. "If that were the case, none of them would have been able to fly from Slovakia to Ukraine," he noted. The head of state noted that he won't get involved in the political and criminal disputes that have arisen in recent days over the donation of the fighters. "However, the people of Slovakia have the right to know whether the then [Eduard] Heger's government, ruling without the confidence of Parliament, had the right to donate our MiGs to Ukraine," he added. The law-enforcement authorities have dropped three out of four criminal investigations related to the aid given to Ukraine during the previous parliamentary term. By discontinuing criminal investigations or rejecting criminal complaints, they halted cases concerning the donation of MiG-29 fighters and the S-300 air-defence system along with the termination of a contract with a Russian company providing maintenance for the fighters. The police are still investigating the handover of technical documentation to Ukraine's military attache. am