MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, 11 February 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, 10 February): BRATISLAVA - MPs rejected the opposition's motions to dismiss seven ministers in no-confidence votes held in Parliament on Tuesday. The ministers concerned were Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok, Health Minister Kamil Sasko (both Voice-SD), Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (both Slovak National Party/SNS nominees), Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), Investment and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee). The motion to dismiss Interior Minister Sutaj Estok was filed by the opposition as early as in December 2024 in response to the situation in the police force, which the opposition parties say is falling apart. The minister was also criticised for scrapping the National Crime Agency (NAKA), neglecting the problem of police brutality and insufficient measures to deal with bomb threats at schools. A vote of no confidence in Health Minister Sasko was initiated by the opposition in August 2025 over a non-transparent ambulance services tender, allegedly with pre-arranged winners. BRATISLAVA - MPs from junior coalition parties Voice-SD and the Slovak National Party (SNS) didn't vote against the ouster of Investment and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent), as they didn't register for the no-confidence vote that Migal survived because the opposition lacked the required majority, representatives of both parties stated after the vote held in Parliament earlier on Tuesday. "As we've already announced, we didn't express no-confidence in Minister Migal, but neither did we or the SNS MPs register for the vote, meaning this as a 'warning finger' concerning what's going on at the ministry," explained House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD). He reiterated that Migal was installed as minister last year after leaving Voice-SD. He was nominated by the senior coalition Smer-SD party as part of a reshuffle to resolve internal disputes in the coalition. According to Rasi, the move was intended to warn Migal that he and his ministry will be under scrutiny. "The 'warning finger' means that we weren't opposed to the no-confidence motion against Minister Migal, and we'll see what happens next. If things keep going in the way that they have done, there will be consequences," added Rasi. BRATISLAVA - The current government is trying to cover up its incompetence and corruption by attacking my family, said opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party leader Michal Simecka during the parliamentary debate on the results of a government audit into the use of public subsidies on Tuesday. The audit revealed shortcomings, among others, in the Project Forum NGO, of which Simecka's mother is a statutory representative. Simecka didn't question its findings, but criticised a non-standard procedure, with accounting matters being addressed by Parliament and the government rather than the authorities designated for this purpose. "If this concerned any other citizen and their NGO, the issue wouldn't be discussed by Parliament, the premier wouldn't be holding news conferences, hateful videos wouldn't be produced, and there wouldn't be a witch hunt like the one that the coalition is conducting here. My mother's 'fault' is that she is the mother of the leader of a political party that will defeat Smer-SD in the next election," stated Simecka. BRATISLAVA - The Bratislava I City Court on Monday (9 February) rejected an indictment filed against police officers Jan C. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] and others, citing serious shortcomings in the pre-trial proceedings and a violation of the right to defence, attorney Peter Kubina reported on social media on Tuesday. The court thus upheld objections raised by the defence immediately after the indictment had been delivered. "The court's decision to reject this indictment is a major satisfaction for us and a confirmation that the defence acted throughout the proceedings exactly as required by law. This is how it ends when criminal prosecution is conducted with the aim of prosecuting the accused at any cost, while ignoring the law, evidence and justified defence objections," Kubina stated. BRATISLAVA - The premiers of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have agreed, within the framework of the Austerlitz Format, on a declaration outlining their positions ahead of Thursday's (12 February) informal summit of the EU, Slovak Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a news conference following the Austerlitz Format meeting on Tuesday. The declaration sets out the priorities that the European Union should focus on, one of which is electricity prices. "I urged my colleagues to unleash an 'artillery barrage' on the European Commission concerning the issue of electricity prices," said Fico. He argued that the EU can't compete globally if electricity prices are several times higher than those in China or India, while pursuing what he described as 'senselessly ambitious climate targets'. "If nothing else were achieved on Thursday, just a single informal conclusion were reached - namely that we'll move towards lowering electricity prices - I would view this informal summit as a huge success, with the conclusions then being formally adopted at a standard summit in Brussels in March," said the Slovak premier. PODGORICA/BRATISLAVA – Slovakia is not a member of the so-called coalition of the willing formed with respect to Ukraine, but it is monitoring its activities and, at the same time, it is ready to take part at a technical level as an observer and offer logistical support for troops that could be deployed to monitor a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, if they're acceptable to both Kiev and Moscow, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) said on Tuesday in response to a TASR question at the start of his visit to Montenegro. At a press briefing, Blanar reiterated the government's position that Slovakia will not send any of its soldiers to Ukraine, as such a move would only escalate the situation. He added that Russia itself considers the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine unacceptable. "Since both sides must reach an agreement, we do not see the point in this, but in any case we are monitoring what's happening within the coalition of the willing, because our NATO membership is absolutely key for us. That is our security guarantee," he said. According to Blanar, Slovakia's three top constitutional officials have considered the option of Slovakia holding observer status within the coalition of the willing. In this regard, he said President Peter Pellegrini expressed such a view, which was reportedly shared by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD). ko