SUMMARY - Wednesday, 18 February 2026 - 9 p.m.

Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) - Serbia deserves membership in the European Union and is well prepared for it, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) wrote on his social media with respect to Wednesday's event marking Serbia's Statehood Day, which he attended. https://etasr.sk/article/22986059 Klenov/Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) – An outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in the village of Klenov in the Presov region has been confirmed, the State Veterinary and Food Administration (SVPS) reported in its social media post on Wednesday. https://etasr.sk/article/22985618 Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) - Two kinds of new minerals have been discovered in Slovakia — auropolybasite and auropearceite — during research at the Sibencny vrch site near Nova Bana (Banska Bystrica region), carried out by an international team led by scientists from the Institute of Earth Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), TASR learnt from the academy's spokesperson Jozef Bednar on Wednesday. https://etasr.sk/article/22985380 Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) - More than 20,000 Slovaks have already supported the 'Heat for Ukraine' collection, with more than €1.15 million being raised to purchase generators and charging stations for Ukrainian cities that are suffering most from Russian energy terrorism, TASR has been told by Yelyzaveta Derevynska on behalf of the Embassy of Ukraine in Slovakia, which initiated the collection along with its partners. https://etasr.sk/article/22985110 Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has failed in his demand that Croatia should transport Russian oil for MOL refineries via the Adria pipeline, as EU sanctions prohibit imports of Russian oil by sea, so the route isn't an option for Slovakia, either, warned opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Karol Galek on Wednesday. https://etasr.sk/article/22985017 Bratislava, February 18 (TASR) - The 'For Open Justice' (ZOJ) judicial initiative considers Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) statements about Judge Jan Hrubala to be unacceptable, the association's spokeswoman Katarina Javorcikova told TASR on Wednesday, adding that the premier's public personal attacks on Hrubala are dangerous for the rule of law. https://etasr.sk/article/22984994 Bratislava, 18 February (TASR) - The government should summon the Ukrainian ambassador to Slovakia over the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline, and if it is proven that the Ukrainians were responsible for the damage, he should be expelled, stated coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko in a social media post on Wednesday. https://etasr.sk/article/22984867 NOTICE: If you click on the link or copy it into the search window, the browser will display the full text of the message in the new e-TASR client zone. If you have any questions, please contact obchod@tasr.sk. mf