MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 2 April 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 1 April): BRATISLAVA - The junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) has proposed extending the electoral term of parliament from four to five years, suggesting the same for the terms of local governments. SNS wants to achieve this via an amendment to the Slovak Constitution. It's already submitted a respective draft to Parliament. At least 90 votes are needed for approval. "The aim of the proposed legislation is to extend the term in office of local government bodies, namely mayors of towns and villages, regional governors, municipal and regional councillors, and to extend the electoral term of MPs from the current four years to five years," explained the group of MPs for SNS who sponsored the draft. If approved, the changes would come into force early next year. Five-year terms would therefore apply to candidates who succeed in elections held after 1 January 2027. "Electoral terms that began before this constitutional law entered into force will be completed under the current rules," said SNS. BRATISLAVA - The state of emergency in Slovakia concerning oil could be lifted next Wednesday, 8 April, if the Slovnaft refinery returns the borrowed state oil to the state material reserves, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) during a briefing with Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) at the Bratislava refinery following a joint meeting with Slovnaft representatives. "We've agreed with the refinery's representatives that there will be another working meeting on Wednesday [8 April] of next week. Slovnaft borrowed 250,000 tonnes of crude oil from the state reserves, of which it's used about 105,000 tonnes, and it's gradually returning it," said the prime minister. "As soon as the moment comes when our state reserves are full again, so that we'll meet the EU requirement to be prepared for 90 days, we are ready in the government to cancel the state of emergency concerning oil. We had to declare it in order to provide the oil loan to Slovnaft," he noted. According to Fico, this doesn't affect the government regulation on dual pricing and restrictions on diesel purchases. "We'll let that regulation run until the end of its 30-day period," he said. JASLOVSKE BOHUNICE - The Slovak Nuclear Energy Company (JESS) should pass fully into state hands as early as in the first half of this year, as an acquisition of the remaining 49-percent stake, currently held by Czech company CEZ, is being prepared, Peter Gerhart, chairman of the board of directors of the Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS), which currently controls 51 percent of JESS, told a news conference held on Wednesday with President Peter Pellegrini in attendance. JESS is in charge of the planned construction of a new nuclear power facility in Slovakia. "JAVYS is looking to the future. I'm very pleased that we have two subsidiaries within the JAVYS group. One of them is JESS, which we'll still co-own with the Czech CEZ for a few more weeks. However, once this company is fully taken into 100-percent state ownership, it will be responsible for preparing a new nuclear power facility with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, which should be built on the premises of this nuclear power plant," said the president during his visit to JAVYS on Wednesday. BRATISLAVA - A total of 22,100 investors bought government bonds intended for ordinary people this year, 900 more than last year, although the average amount invested fell to €17,800 from last year's €23,600, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) told a news conference on Wednesday, describing these trends as positive. According to Kamenicky, the 'Bonds for the Public' project is successful and should continue in the years to come. "The project's goal has been achieved. Banks provided smooth sales without any major issues. It's been confirmed that this is an investment for ordinary people, and we're pleased that more people in Slovakia chose to buy," said Kamenicky. Unlike last year's pilot sale, when 'Bonds for the Public' worth a total of €500 million were sold out in just 3.5 days, this year they were available for the entire planned period from 2 to 20 March, with people investing a total of €417 million in them. One of the reasons for this was that the interest rates on both the two-year and four-year bonds were 0.3 percentage points lower than last year. BRATISLAVA - The Federation of Train Drivers (FS) on Wednesday protested against the introduction of body cameras monitoring train drivers' work, calling it a non-systemic measure that will do nothing to improve rail safety or prevent accidents. According to the trade union, investments are needed in the European Train Control System (ETCS) on tracks and trains, in additional signalling on high-risk sections, in improving the technical condition of rolling stock, and in better professional training. It urged the government and the Transport Ministry to scrap the idea of cameras in cabs. FS Vice-president Peter Dubovsky told TASR that the aim is to address safety through effective measures rather than cameras. "Cameras can't prevent accidents; signalling and communications systems can," he said, adding that installing cameras would be money wasted. "A camera only serves to investigate an accident. We don't want to investigate accidents; we want to prevent them. Every action by a driver is already recorded by signalling equipment, so this is just duplication at high cost," he added. Transport Minister Jozef Raz (nominee of Smer-SD) had been invited but didn't attend. The drivers criticised the ministry for pushing ahead despite FS's strong opposition, a petition with more than 1,500 signatures, and an expert opinion from the Transport Research Centre Brno, which didn't recommend cameras in cabs. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak Armed Forces were informed by allies about the movement of a drone on Ukrainian territory near Slovakia's border, with the Ukrainian town of Perechyn reporting a drone attack, Slovak Armed Forces spokesperson Stefan Zemanovic told TASR on Wednesday. "This information was also confirmed by our own surveillance assets," he said, adding that as the drone did not cross the designated line, no further military assets were activated. "After losing contact near the state border, we received confirmation that it crashed outside Slovak territory. Based on its flight characteristics, it was identified as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)," stated Zemanovic. On Wednesday, Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia regions in western Ukraine. In Perechyn, which is located less than 10 kilometres from the Slovak border as the crow flies, the drone damaged an electrical substation. ko