MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 21 April 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 20 April): BRATISLAVA – President Peter Pellegrini acted like a head of state originating from the current governing coalition rather than a president for all the people when announcing the referendum, according to Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka. 'Slovakia' party chair Igor Matovic voiced concerns that the referendum with the remaining two questions will not succeed. Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) vice-chair Viliam Karas stated that the decision did not surprise his party, whereas 'For the People' party chair Veronika Remisova pointed out that the referendum date, 4 July, may be problematic due to the holiday season. Opposition representatives said this on Monday in reaction to the president's decision to remove the referendum question on early elections. "The decision not to call a referendum with the key question on early elections, without turning to the Constitutional Court, is clear evidence that he chose to protect the government from a potentially large mobilisation against it," Simecka said. He added that Pellegrini, when still in opposition, strongly advocated referendums as "sacred" and a tool to meet public demands. In Simecka's view, the president should have consulted the Constitutional Court. Matovic pointed out that his party had proposed a constitutional amendment in Parliament that would have allowed a referendum on shortening the electoral term. "Back in December, we put to a vote in the House an amendment enabling the electoral term to be shortened by referendum," he said, noting the vote took place at the end of 2024. He added that all MPs from Smer-SD and Voice-SD voted against it, and that Pellegrini, then-honorary chairman of Voice-SD, had instructed his MPs not to support the proposal. He labelled Pellegrini a hypocrite in this context. Remisova accentuated that the president scheduled the referendum for the start of the summer holidays, when many families already have vacations planned. "The president knows very well that a referendum during the summer holidays is doomed to fail," she said, adding that a reduced two-question referendum is unnecessary and that the 10 million euros could be better used during fiscal consolidation. Karas reiterated that a referendum on shortening the electoral term without a prior constitutional amendment is not possible under Constitutional Court rulings. He described the remaining two questions as standard political programme issues not worthy of a costly referendum. "The Christian Democratic Movement clearly supports abolishing Fico's lifetime annuity and bolstering the fight against corruption and organised crime through better cooperation among law enforcement authorities," he added. VILNIUS/BRATISLAVA - Lithuania has not received a request from Slovakia to use its airspace for Prime Minister Robert Fico's flight to Moscow, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, responding to Fico's claim that Lithuania has refused permission. TASR reported this on the same day, citing the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT. "Lithuania has not received a request from Slovakia or any other country regarding the use of our airspace for a flight to the 9 May parade in Moscow," said Lithuanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kristina Belik. However, she added that the participation of EU leaders at the event in Moscow would not be appropriate. Fico stated on Saturday that he will not receive permission from Lithuania and Latvia to fly to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations on 9 May. "Lithuania and Latvia have already informed us that they will not allow us to fly over their territory en route to Moscow. Well, so be it, member states of the European Union will not allow the prime minister of another EU member state to fly over their territory. I will certainly find another route, as I did last year when Estonia torpedoed us," he said. Due to opposition from the Baltic states, last year Fico flew on a longer southern route via Hungary, Romania and the Black Sea region. Last year, in addition to attending events marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, he also held bilateral talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other countries. BRATISLAVA – President Peter Pellegrini will call a referendum with two questions concerning the abolition of so-called lifetime annuities and the restoration of the Special Prosecutor's Office and National Crime Agency for 4 July. A question on a request to shorten the electoral term will not be included in the referendum, with the head of state claiming that it would be in conflict with the Slovak Constitution. Voters will decide on two questions: "Do you agree with the abolition of the so-called lifetime annuity; for example, for [Prime Minister] Robert Fico, established in Section 24a(1)(b) of Act No. 120/1993 Coll. on the salary conditions of certain constitutional officials of the Slovak Republic, as amended?" and "Do you agree that the Special Prosecutor's Office and the National Crime Agency should be restored?" The proposed question deemed not to meet the conditions to be included read: "Do you agree that Parliament should adopt a resolution to shorten its ninth electoral term and set the date of early elections so that they are held within 180 days of the announcement of the referendum results?" The president explained that his role is to assess whether the petition committee submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures and whether the proposal for a referendum meets constitutional requirements. "A total of 384,512 signatures were completed and checked on the submitted sheets. Of these, the President's Office assessed 363,799 as valid and 20,713 as invalid. The number of signatures required to call a referendum was therefore met," Pellegrini said. The legal team assessed the question on shortening the electoral term as unconstitutional. He noted that shortening the term is currently only possible through a parliamentary resolution. "No other immediate way of shortening the ongoing electoral term of parliament is recognised by the Constitution in its current wording," Pellegrini added. The president also pointed out that the issue of shortening the electoral term through a referendum had already been examined in detail by the Constitutional Court when former president Zuzana Caputova (2019-24) referred the matter to it. "The Constitutional Court ruled explicitly in its decision of 7 July 2021 that a referendum cannot be used to shorten the ongoing electoral term of parliament. The court made this clear in several parts of its ruling, which I also quote verbatim in my written decision," Pellegrini said. "In view of these clear verdicts, I did not consider it necessary to refer the same question to the Constitutional Court again," he added. The president stressed that his position on the rejected question is based on expert legal assessment and is not influenced by political circumstances. He also referred to the views of several constitutional lawyers who share the same opinion. Pellegrini added that if the Constitution were amended in the future to allow people to decide on shortening the electoral term, he would respect such a change. "Because it would be fully in line with my civic and personal conviction on this matter. If the people grant power, they should also have the possibility to take it away from politicians at any time. However, after the Constitutional Court's ruling, this idea cannot be implemented today without a constitutional amendment," Pellegrini said. He added that he has no doubts the other two questions are in line with the Constitution, although he warned that the question on restoring the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the National Criminal Agency is not directly enforceable. "Its outcome may rather be a final and general legal norm. Whether this actually happens will depend on the free decision of members of Parliament. Even in the event of a valid referendum, this question will therefore have no direct enforceable effects," he explained. According to the president, the date of 4 July was chosen to give citizens sufficient time to apply for postal voting. He noted that the legal deadline for registration is no later than 52 days before the referendum, giving a 23-day registration period. A shorter period, which would have resulted from setting the date a week earlier as proposed by the petition initiators, would have been insufficient. The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary Democrats party. A referendum is called by the president if at least 350,000 citizens request it by petition. The Constitution also stipulates that referendum results are valid if more than half of eligible voters participate and if the decision is approved by a majority of those taking part. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party and the Christian Democrats (KDH) plan to contest the election on their own, and leader of Progressive Slovakia (PS) Michal Simecka views statements to this effect to be irresponsible in the current situation. Simecka has called for a discussion among the opposition parties about joining forces. The PS leader harbours concerns that the opposition will contest the election disunited, with several parties polling close to the 5-percent threshold required to win seats in parliament, thereby leaving change-seeking voters with the dilemma of whether to support PS so it can win the election, or SaS, Democrats or KDH in order to prevent votes from being squandered. "If we don't give the voters a clear, unanimous choice, a clear alternative, we won't obtain victory. We won't have an opportunity to outvote this governing coalition, because some of these parties might not make it into parliament," warned Simecka at a press conference on Monday. SaS plans to run in the upcoming election on its own, arguing that pre-election alliances would, according to available polls and analyses, lead to a significant drop in voter-support and jeopardise the formation of a stable government that would not raise taxes. "Unification isn't a strategy. Anyone who talks about it only confirms they have no strategy to defeat Robert Fico. The opposition won't win by mechanically adding up numbers and party support. That isn't how it works," said party leader Branislav Groehling. He added that Slovakia needs a strong rightist, economically focused party. Running as an alliance would, in his view, mean endorsing policies such as progressive taxation, which SaS opposes. He also warned of weakening the rightist parties. "Artificial alliances often result in other actors being strengthened, including Igor Matovic [leader of the opposition 'Slovakia' party] or extremists. That certainly won't help defeat Robert Fico or restart Slovakia," said Groehling. KDH has likewise announced that it will run independently. "We're convinced that only a strong KDH is a guarantee of a stable government without Robert Fico that will kick-start the economy, help families and restore health care," said party leader Milan Majersky. Majersky warned that broad electoral blocs risk diluting rightist and conservative values, leaving voters without a clear choice. "KDH represents this alternative today, and it won't abandon its conservative values," he said, adding that a government with KDH would be one without chaos, without experiments and focused on real help for people. Meanwhile, Michal Simecka over the weekend urged leaders of other opposition parties to make choices easier for voters and create a mobilisation effect, outlining several options. mf