MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 18 April 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 17 April): BRATISLAVA - Slovakia is set to file a lawsuit with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the ban on Russian gas imports imposed via an EU regulation of January 2026, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a press conference on Friday, adding that the ban should have been adopted unanimously by all EU-member states rather than by a qualified majority. The press conference was also attended by Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD), Economy Ministry State Secretary Szabolcs Hodosy, and a representative of the Office of Head Agent of the Slovak Republic before the Courts of the European Union, Adrian Lukacik. "We object to the fact that a qualified majority was used where it wasn't applicable, and that the right of a sovereign EU-member state to veto a decision was circumvented," stated Fico. Susko explained that the regulation was adopted on the proposal of the European Commission as an EU trade policy measure, meaning that it could be decided by a qualified majority. However, according to him, the restrictive nature and context of the regulation indicate that it was a decision intended to implement the European Union's foreign and security policy. He noted that a ban on imports of other raw materials was also approved unanimously. Susko further stated that the lawsuit is to be filed next week. "We're in the very final stage of finalising the text that we've drafted. We still need to structure it into the format of a lawsuit," he said. The premier recommended that the ministry should also request an injunction in the lawsuit that would suspend the validity of the regulation, as the court proceedings could take up to three years and Russian gas imports would no longer be possible. In addition, he noted that Slovakia must file the lawsuit by 27 April 2026, but he expects it to be filed earlier. BRATISLAVA - The European Commission's Comitology Committee has approved the sixth and seventh payments from the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia, totalling €1.2 billion, the Office of the Vice-Premier for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy announced on Friday following the committee's meeting. The disbursement of funds has been temporarily suspended due to the reorganisation of the Whistleblowers Protection Office. According to the Vice-Premier's Office, the approval indicates that the implementation of reforms and investments is proceeding according to plan and yielding specific results. "Our primary goal is for Slovakia to receive all funds from the recovery plan. Thanks to these funds, we'll be able to continue making important investments in education, including schools and nursery schools, as well as in health and social care for the people across the country," said Education Minister and acting Vice-Premier for the Recovery Plan Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD). Slovakia can expect the combined disbursement of the sixth and seventh payments in early May. After these two payments are disbursed, Slovakia will have more than €5.2 billion available from the total package of €6.4 billion. Two final payment requests totalling approximately €1.2 billion remain before the funds are fully paid out; the country plans to submit these by the end of August. BRATISLAVA/PARIS - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced on Friday following the leaders' summit in Paris that he's offered Slovakia's capabilities in clearing mines from the coast of the Strait of Hormuz, should they be necessary, as well as expertise related to water management - all of this following the end of the military conflict in the region, TASR was told by the Government Office's press and information department on Friday. "We find ourselves in a peculiar situation in which another country is attempting to block the already blocked strait, and there's a clear attempt to privatise this strait - whether through total control or the collection of tolls," stated Fico. The premier participated via video-conference in the aforementioned summit on the international plan to ensure freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Fico said that on behalf of the Slovak government, he expressed a clear stance that the only way to resolve the crisis is through strict adherence to international law. In practice, he said, this means free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has criticised an increase in gas carrier Eustream's transit fees approved this week by the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO), announcing its intention to file a complaint with the European Commission (EC) to have this decision overturned due to a conflict with European rules, SaS MP Karol Galek told a press conference on Friday. According to Galek, the fees will increase by 10 percent, meaning that large customers using high quantities of gas will pay significantly more. "For [chemicals company] Duslo Sala, which produces nitrogen fertilisers from gas, this will come at a cost €3.7 million per year. Likewise, heat suppliers generating heat for our households, which make up some 35 percent of Slovakia's total gas consumption, will pay more as well, about €10.5 million per year," stated Galek, adding that Eustream's fees already increased last year by 152 percent. BRATISLAVA - The Constitutional Act on Fiscal Responsibility must be amended to prevent problems when adopting budgets for towns, municipalities and self-governing regions, according to representatives of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS), the Slovak Towns Union (UMS) and the Association of Self-Governing Regions of Slovakia (SK8), who held a meeting with President Peter Pellegrini on Thursday (16 April). The umbrella organisations for local governments also found agreement with the head of state on this issue, which, according to ZMOS Chair Jozef Bozik, concerns public administration reform and a position document presented by local government organisations in March. "We agreed that before we actually start discussing public administration reform, we must resolve several problems this year, with one of the main ones being the question of the so-called debt brake, which in its current form significantly complicates or even makes it impossible to adopt a budget for the next calendar year," stated Bozik. "If the constitutional law is changed, it will be the first step towards improving the financing of towns, villages and regions," he added. BRATISLAVA - An investigator from the anti-corruption unit of the Police Corps Office for Combating Organised Crime (UBOK) has concluded an investigation into the suspected misuse of financial grants during the COVID-19 pandemic and filed a proposal to press charges against several individuals, the police have reported on a social network. "According to our findings to date, in the period between June and August 2021, four accused individuals, employees of the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Office in Pezinok (Bratislava region), were allegedly misusing the 'First Aid' system designed to help employers to retain jobs during the pandemic," stated the police, adding that the damage caused by the accused exceeded €571,000. According to the police, they allegedly acted in concert by illegally submitting applications for financial grants on behalf of fictitious companies or companies set up for this purpose. In many cases, according to the police, these were ready-made companies using frontmen or non-existent directors who had no knowledge of the submitted applications, which weren't even submitted in a lawful manner via the slovensko.sk website and contained false data. The companies had no employees and didn't fall under the Pezinok labour office's jurisdiction. am