MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 20 February 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 19 February): BRATISLAVA - House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) has confirmed for TASR that he'll call for this year's joint local and regional elections in Slovakia to be held on 24 October. Slovaks will thus elect their representatives in towns, villages and cities, and in the self-governing regions on the same day. The House chair hasn't yet officially announced the date of the elections; he's obliged to do so no later than 110 days before polling day. In 2022, Slovak voters elected mayors of towns and villages, regional governors and local councillors for four-year terms in joint elections that were held for the first time that year. "I declared last October that extending the current electoral term for our local governments, i.e. for our mayors of towns and villages and regional governors, could be legally contestable and would not be constitutionally clean. Therefore, I'll announce the local and regional elections for 24 October, 2026, in line with the current law," Rasi has told TASR. BRATISLAVA - House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) and representatives of the Slovak Towns Union (UMS) have discussed issues of pedestrian safety, speed measurement and the procedure for debating an amendment to the Road Traffic Act in Parliament, which UMS fully supports, TASR reported on Thursday. Although the debate on the amendment was postponed to the next parliamentary session in April due to insufficient support among coalition MPs, UMS remains confident that it will be passed in the end. However, objections to the Road Traffic Act amendment, primarily in connection with setting up speed cameras in towns and municipalities, have been voiced by several MPs close to Tourism and Sport Minister Rudolf Huliak (Independent). "The two main issues that we addressed, among others, were pedestrian safety and speed measurement. What we have agreed, and what we'll continue to communicate ahead of the next parliamentary debate on this law, is that the proposed measures are about road traffic safety," said Bratislava vice-mayor for transport Tatiana Kratochvilova, adding that the measures are needed to reduce the high accident rate, as well the number of fatal road accidents. NEW DELHI/BRATISLAVA - Slovakia should join the group of countries seeking to ban social media for children under 15, President Peter Pellegrini told the media on Thursday in New Delhi, where a summit on artificial intelligence is being held. French President Emmanuel Macron stressed at the event the need to protect children not only from AI but also from "digital abuse", TASR's special correspondent has reported. Pellegrini discussed the issue of banning social media for children with Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. "These three countries have already decided in favour of the ban and are preparing legislation. Some already have it," he noted. He expects other countries to join the ban gradually. The president believes that Slovakia should prohibit children from using social media, citing the mental health of young people and an increase in the incidence of various psychological disorders among the younger generation. The head of state also wants attention to be paid to ensuring that any ban is enforced. "On the one hand, the government can prohibit or prevent children from accessing social media by law, but on the other, you must agree with those who operate these technologies on how they will guarantee it and enforce it technology-wise," said Pellegrini. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has called on the Environment Ministry to take into account experiences from Hungary when conducting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the planned electric car battery plant in Surany (Nitra region). MP Karol Galek (SaS) at a news conference on Thursday pointed to a letter from the Slovak ambassador in Budapest, which, he said, "warned of risks associated with Asian investments in battery production". Galek referred to a widely reported case involving South-Korean company Samsung in Hungary, where limits for particulate matter containing nickel, manganese and cobalt, used in the production of battery cathodes, were significantly exceeded. These substances are toxic and may pose health risks, stated the MP. "We want to know how the Slovak government has responded to this case and whether any preventive measures have been taken in connection with the Surany investment," he said. BRATISLAVA - Opposition party Progressive Slovakia (PS) has criticised a tender worth nearly €33 million for consultancy and auditing services announced by the Interior Ministry, arguing that instead of saving money and reducing staff numbers during fiscal consolidation, the ministry is hiring external consultants who are twice as expensive as internal employees. This criticism was echoed by the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, which called on the interior minister to scrap the tender immediately and explain to the public why he wants to spend tens of millions of euros in this manner. MP Jaroslav Spisiak (PS) said that Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) has a complete personnel apparatus at his disposal to carry out everything he needs without consultancy services. HENCOVCE - An emergency has been declared in response to the leak of black liquor at the Bukoza plant in the village of Hencovce in Vranov nad Toplou district (Presov region), TASR was told by the Interior Ministry's strategic communications department on Thursday. The black liquor leak occurred at the former pulp mill on Monday (16 February). It was minimised after initial action but not completely stopped. Firefighters therefore installed special containers on site to collect the leaked substances. "The situation regarding the leak of hazardous substances has been stabilised, with no further leakage into the sewer system. Any further leaks will be collected in special IBC containers, which are on site," said the Interior Ministry, adding that a crisis management team dealt with the situation. Monika Leskova, head of Vranov nad Toplou District Office, declared an emergency at 3 p.m. on Tuesday in order to deal with the incident more effectively. ko