MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 9 February 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 8 February): SELENCA - The 19th annual children's festival of Slovak folk songs, called 'Nightingales from Selenca', took place on Friday and Saturday (6 and 7 February) in the village of Selenca near Novi Sad in Vojvodina, Serbia, TASR has learnt from its Vojvodina correspondent. The festival was jointly organised by the local Jan Kollar Primary School and the Bells Chamber Choir. The event was once again comprised of two non-competitive concerts. The first concert featured 27 nursery and lower primary school students, while the second featured 26 singers from higher grades. They were accompanied by the children's orchestra called 'Little Orchestra', which is affiliated with Jan Kollar Primary School in Selenca and the Bells Chamber Choir. "Thank God for sending us these people - first of all, parents who are willing to support the children in their singing and musical activities... Year after year, the children develop such a strong connection to this festival and to Slovak folk songs that they like to approach me with new ideas. The second concert is over, but I already had two children registered for next year's edition yesterday," said Juraj Sudi, music culture lecturer and leader of Little Orchestra, has told TASR. The orchestra has been active at Jan Kollar Primary School in Selenca since 1992. Its members have performed at events in Serbia, as well as in Slovakia and Croatia. Little Orchestra has won first prize at the Vojvodina Children's Music Festival for nine times, and it was awarded the Golden Plaque at the nation-wide competition of school orchestras in Serbia. BRATISLAVA - The request to dismiss Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Daniel Zmeko is a pointless political attack, opposition MP Gabor Grendel ('Slovakia' party - For the People) said on Sunday in reaction to the junior governing Slovak National Party (SNS), which has called for Zmeko's dismissal. "The chief of the General Staff is really not to blame for the fact that politicians from Smer-SD, Voice-SD and SNS have been misleading their voters for many years. It is therefore ridiculous to demand Daniel Zmeko's dismissal because neither the police, nor the prosecution service see anything illegal in donating military equipment to Ukraine," stated Grendel. He also pointed to the fact that Zmeko's term of office will expire in May of this year. SNS on Saturday (7 February) called for Zmeko's dismissal from the post of Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, appealing to Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to submit the proposal to President Peter Pellegrini. The call was related to the dropping of criminal proceedings in the case of the donation of MiG-29 fighters and the S-300 missile defence system. BRATISLAVA - A total of 28 firms filed for bankruptcy in January, an increase of 27 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) but 18 percent down from December, credit-reporting company Slovak Credit Bureau (CRIF) informed the media earlier this week. The companies owed €5.86 million in total to the state. "They owed more than €1 million to social-insurance company Socialna poistovna and almost €160,000 to state-run health-insurer VsZP. As usual, the highest outstanding sums were registered by tax offices, at over €4.6 million," said CRIF chief analyst Jana Markova. The biggest amount, €3.7 million, was owed to the state by a company called ao 24, previously better known to the public as Agro Ostrov. The firm from eastern Slovakia, which traded in grain and fertilisers and was controlled by entrepreneur Ladislav Kulka, was generating €30 million in revenues five years ago. Among the companies with the highest turnover was Timob Tel, a wholesaler in electronic and telecommunications equipment based in Vranov nad Toplou (Presov region). While its revenues exceeded €6 million in 2023, they fell steeply to below €1 million in 2024. A total of 28 limited-liability companies went bankrupt in January. Eleven firms had fewer than ten employees, while bankruptcy also hit six bigger companies employing 10-99 people. One company was permitted to undergo restructuring in January - a well-known printing house based in Martin (Zilina region) called Neografia, which has a history of over 80 years. In 2024, it posted revenues exceeding €31 million, with a total loss of more than €4 million. The company, which employs some 400 people, owes Socialna poistovna over €500,000, the highest amount among the bankruptcies in January. mf