MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 16 February 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 15 February): BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini discussed energy, defence and security issues, transatlantic relations, and current world events with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on Sunday, the President's Office told TASR, noting that the visit of the United States' top diplomat to Slovakia took place after seven years. "Our partnership is strategic and brings specific results in the areas of defence, security, and energy cooperation," said the Slovak head of state, praising in this context the development of cooperation in nuclear energy, including the new power plant project implemented by Westinghouse. According to him, nuclear energy means stability and sovereignty in the face of geopolitical shocks, and Slovakia is interested in further deepening this cooperation with the United States. Defence cooperation and the fulfilment of commitments arising from NATO summits were also high on the agenda of discussion. The president confirmed Slovakia's readiness to continue modernising its armed forces, thereby contributing to strengthening the alliance's defence and to a stronger and more confident Europe. BRATISLAVA - The United States doesn't want Europe to become its vassal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in Bratislava on Sunday. "We want to be your partner. We want to work with Europe. We want to work with our allies," said Rubio, noting that the US expects all countries to act in their national interests. According to Rubio, the United States is looking forward to cooperating with the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), whose presidency will be taken over by Slovakia on 1 July this year. Rubio emphasised that Slovakia's views and position on the war in Ukraine are "very important" to the US, for example, given the geographical proximity of the two countries. With regard to Iran, the US secretary of state said that Washington is currently focusing on negotiations and will then decide what steps to take. The United States and Iran are once again holding talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, which were suspended after the 12-day Israeli-Iranian war last June. BRATISLAVA - Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka rejected statements made by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) at a press conference on Sunday regarding amendments to legislation on cooperating defendants, describing the premier's statements as an attack on the prosecutor's office and on himself in his post as prosecutor-general, which is unacceptable in a democratic state respecting the rule of law, TASR has learnt from PG's post on social media on Sunday. "This is not only an attack, but also a quite obvious attempt to influence the activities of the prosecutor-general and the prosecutor's office by the most senior representative of the executive branch, of which the prosecutor's office is not a part. And I'll never allow that," said Zilinka. The prime minister criticised that the prosecutor-general challenged at the Constitutional Court the amendment to the Criminal Code concerning cooperating defendants, describing it as a hostile gesture towards the government and claiming that the prosecutor's office had entered into a political battle on the side of the opposition. He also expressed suspicion that the leadership of the prosecutor's office was interested in changing the governing coalition and that the prosecutor-general was protecting opposition entities from criminal prosecution. The prosecutor-general responded by stating that such claims are unfounded and represent an attempt by the executive branch to influence the activities of the prosecutor's office. He also denied that he takes into account the interests of political parties or public pressure in the performance of his duties. BRATISLAVA - At a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the states' delegations, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) discussed issues of cooperation in nuclear energy, the situation with oil and gas supplies in Slovakia and possible alternatives, the war in Ukraine, as well as the situation in NATO, TASR has learnt at their joint press conference following their meeting on Sunday. The premier confirmed his interest in cooperating with the US on the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Slovakia and also declared his interest in possible joint negotiations between the V4 (Visegrad Four) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) and the US on energy cooperation issues. He also talked with Rubio about Slovakia's intention to purchase four more F-16 fighters and offered the US Slovakia's assistance in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Fico considers it to be the most important that the US and Slovakia respect each other, act as allies in matters of common interest, and negotiate and seek common solutions when they have differing opinions. The premier praised the fact that the meeting with Rubio took place shortly after they had held talks with US President Donald Trump in America. He declared that Slovakia cares about cooperation with the US in the field of nuclear energy. "We're very interested in creating a multinational consortium under the auspices of our American partner, which would guarantee that Slovakia could build another 1,200-megawatt nuclear unit by 2040. And we look forward to signing specific agreements with Westinghouse over the course of the next year," he said. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's economic growth is expected to reach 1.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, with the economy due to be driven mainly by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, while real salary growth is also predicted to continue, according to the conclusions of the latest macroeconomic forecast published by the Finance Ministry on Sunday. Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) described the economic situation as challenging. "Slovakia is significantly affected by what's happening in Germany, Austria, and globally. We've been significantly affected by tariffs and trade wars, and on top of that, we're still struggling with the consequences of devastated public finances," he said, adding that consolidation is therefore necessary. However, he declared that despite this, economic growth is holding steady at 1 percent of GDP and pro-growth measures are being worked on. According to Kamenicky, the whole of Europe is heading for difficult times "as a result of bad decisions". According to the Finance Ministry, Slovakia is a small and open economy that depends on the performance of its largest trading partners. "Since developments in Germany and Austria, for example, aren't at all favourable, this is also having a negative impact on its economy. If we add to this external headwinds, trade wars, the loss of competitiveness of European companies due to high energy prices, and overall global uncertainty, the result is a lower estimate of economic growth than was predicted last autumn. GDP growth should reach 1 percent this year," it said. jrg