MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 5 April 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 4 April): BRATISLAVA - The liberation of Bratislava should remind us that living in peace is a gift, and that peace cannot be taken for granted, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) stated on social media on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the city's liberation. "We should remember this date. Peace is not a given," Sutaj Estok wrote, adding that this "gift inherited" from great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers must be passed on to future generations. The Voice-SD leader pointed out that hundreds of soldiers of various nationalities, as well as civilians, died during the liberation of Bratislava. He added that even Pope Leo XIV, with respect to current armed conflicts, has called on world leaders to return to the negotiating table and embrace dialogue. Bratislava was liberated on 4 April 1945. BRATISLAVA/BUDAPEST - Prime Minister Robert Fico held a phone call on Saturday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, after which they jointly called on the EU, and especially the European Commission, to resume dialogue with Russia and lift sanctions related to Russian energy supplies, TASR learnt on the same day. "The EU, and especially the European Commission, should immediately resume dialogue with Russia and ensure a political and legal environment that allows individual member states and the EU as a whole to replenish missing gas and oil reserves and enable supplies of these strategic commodities from all possible sources and directions, including Russia," Fico wrote in a post on Facebook. "Therefore, the senseless sanctions banning imports of gas and oil from Russia should be lifted, a separate EU initiative should be launched to rapidly end the war in Ukraine, and decisive steps should be taken to restore operations of the Druzhba oil pipeline," he added. According to Fico, the call with Orban confirmed that the enormous energy crisis cannot be tackled solely at national level. "Nevertheless, the governments of Slovakia and Hungary are doing everything to protect national economies and their people from the ideological blindness and incompetence of the European Commission, the malicious Ukrainian president, and the impact of the war against Iran," the Slovak prime minister said. After the call, Orban said in a similar vein that "Brussels should immediately suspend sanctions and restrictions concerning Russian energy". He described the situation as critical, warning that "we are approaching a serious energy crisis more rapidly each day". According to Orban, the European economy is directly threatened by a lack of energy resources and rising prices, which could only be avoided if the EU replenished its oil and gas reserves "from all possible sources, in the largest possible volume and as quickly as possible". "Every day counts," the Hungarian prime minister underlined, calling on the EU to "force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to immediately reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline". Orban also urged the EU to abandon plans to cut itself off from Russian energy and to move away from "Brussels' more expensive energy policy, which would be unaffordable for families". ZILINA/BRATISLAVA - A Saturday morning fire in a hotel in Zilina had tragic consequences, as a 56-year-old man died after inhaling smoke, according to regional police spokesperson Daniela Kockova. The fire broke out in a hotel room on the fourth floor. "There was one person in the room who inhaled combustion fumes. Emergency medical services were called for the 56-year-old man, but he eventually succumbed to his injuries," Kockova said. She added that 39 people were evacuated during the fire. A fire investigator attended the scene and preliminarily hasn't ruled out third-party involvement. "The investigator of the criminal police department in Zilina has launched criminal proceedings on suspicion of the offence of general endangerment. The exact circumstances as well as the cause of the fire remain under investigation," Kockova added. mf