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

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, 10 March): BRATISLAVA/PARIS - The government shares the same view as European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen on oil transit through the Druzhba oil pipeline — if the pipeline is damaged, it must be repaired and oil deliveries restored, said Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on social media after meeting the EC chief during a nuclear energy summit in Paris on Tuesday. "Above all, we spoke about the need to restore the transit of Russian oil through the territory of Ukraine to Slovakia. I'm pleased that we share the same view as the European Commission," said Fico. The prime minister showed satellite images to the EC president that he said prove that the pipeline isn't damaged. He reiterated that Slovakia is offering repair capacities. "I welcomed the information from the president of the European Commission that the Commission is also offering not only capacities to repair it, if necessary, but financing for this repair project as well," added Fico. BRATISLAVA – Slovakia ranks among the world leaders in nuclear energy, as it produces more than 60 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said at a nuclear energy summit in Paris, TASR learnt from the Government's Office press department on Tuesday. "Slovakia ranks among the world leaders in nuclear energy. In Slovakia we generate more than 60 percent of electricity from nuclear power and we are probably second in the world right after France," the prime minister said. According to Fico, Slovakia has long-standing experience with the construction of nuclear power plants, their operation and modernisation. He also recalled that the government is preparing projects for additional nuclear blocks in cooperation with the US company Westinghouse. The prime minister also warned that prudence dictates that diversification of nuclear fuel must proceed cautiously. BRATISLAVA – Slovakia is concluding this week the process of repatriating Slovak citizens who were stranded in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region, as the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs currently records only the last dozens of Slovaks in the area who have expressed interest in evacuation, TASR was told by the ministry's press department on Tuesday. According to the ministry, hundreds of other Slovak citizens have decided to remain in the region and continue to be registered in the ministry's registration system. Some are also making use of renewed commercial flights operated by their travel agencies or airlines, which have gradually resumed operations in almost all countries in recent days. As the main coordinator of the repatriation process, Slovak diplomacy has so far carried out 16 evacuation flights together with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. These flights transported 634 Slovak citizens to safety, as well as more than 150 citizens from another 31 countries. BRATISLAVA – Slovakia needs legislation to introduce the institution of a state of alert, which would allow the government to use the capacities of the Slovak army even in peacetime if the country were threatened in any way, President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference on Tuesday, adding that he agreed on this need with Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) and Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Daniel Zmeko at their meeting earlier in the day. The president pointed out that such an amendment would require a change to the Slovak Constitution, which in turn would necessitate agreement across the political spectrum. "We'll have to seek consensus across the whole political spectrum. However, it would be irresponsible with regard to the security of the citizens of Slovakia and the protection of its territorial integrity and sovereignty if we didn't have, as an intermediate stage between peacetime and a state of war, a so-called state of alert during which the government and the armed forces would be able to respond effectively to potential threats that wouldn't yet be a declaration of war against the Slovak Republic, but would represent a serious security risk during which it would be necessary to deploy the armed forces and, of course, also use live ammunition," stated the president, who is concurrently commander-in-chief of the Slovak army. PEZINOK/BRATISLAVA - The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok on Tuesday found Daniel B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons-ed.note] guilty of all charges related to several extremist criminal offences, TASR learnt on the same day. The court imposed a suspended prison sentence of three years with a probation period of four years. The verdict is not final. Prosecutor Michal Stanislav and Daniel B. both appealed against all parts of the ruling. Daniel B. will also remain in custody for the time being. The charges against Daniel B. included expression of sympathy for a movement aimed at suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms, dissemination of extremist material, incitement of national, racial and ethnic hatred and dangerous digital harassment. According to the prosecution, he committed these acts by publishing posts on social media. BRATISLAVA - The Anti-monopoly Office (PMU) has uncovered a cartel of companies operating in the cable manufacturing sector, PMU vice-chair Peter Demcak and head of PMU's cartel section Juraj Syrny told a news conference on Tuesday. The cartel involved 11 participants who maintained a uniform price-fixing agreement over a long period. The office has imposed fines on the companies totalling more than €97 million, the biggest-ever amount in its history, said Demcak, noting that this is just a first-instance ruling. "As for the practice or nature of this cartel, it involved coordination among manufacturers and sellers of cables containing a metallic component, namely copper or aluminium. The coordination concerned the pricing of the metal component in these cables," explained Demcak. He stressed that the cables are used in many sectors of the economy; for example, in railway and security infrastructure, optical cable production, telecommunications, electricity transmission and distribution, and in the construction sector. The potential impact of the cartel agreement was huge, therefore. ko