MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 23 May 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 22 May): VALALIKY - The construction of the new Volvo car plant near Kosice is proceeding in line with the schedule, Volvo Cars Kosice director Marc Gombeer told a news conference in Kosice on Friday. A trial production run will begin after this summer, with full-scale production planned for 2027. The plant currently has more than 600 employees. A further 70 employees are due to join in June, and the company plans to hire an additional 700 workers by the end of the year, said Gombeer. "All the set deadlines have been met. After the summer, we'll smoothly move to the trial production stage. This step will perfectly prepare us for the planned ramp-up of full production in 2027, thus fulfilling our original commitment," stated Gombeer, who confirmed that all preparatory and construction stages are going exactly according to plan. The plant in Valaliky is currently carrying out functional testing of its key operations. As part of functional tests of the press shop, body shop and megacasting facility, more than 100 complete car bodies have already been manufactured and sent to Sweden. As much as 36 percent of the volume of parts for each vehicle will come from suppliers based in Slovakia. Concerning recruitment, the company specified that English isn't a requirement for production operator posts, as training is conducted in Slovak. Slovaks currently make up 95 percent of the hired technicians and operators. At the same time, a new in-house training centre is now fully operational at the plant itself. HELSINGBORG - European countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) must take on greater responsibility for Europe's security, and we must work together to strengthen the defence industry, stated Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) on Friday following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden. The Slovak minister praised the remarks made by US Secretary of State Mark Rubio in Sweden, stating that the USA wants to be strong within NATO but needs an equally strong Europe by its side. Blanar considers this to be a very important message, especially in light of recent statements by US President Donald Trump regarding a possible reduction in the number of US troops in Europe. "Even President Trump announced at the last minute yesterday [21 May] that there will be no reduction in Poland, which I believe is a positive signal and something that we need to build on," said Blanar, adding that when it comes to strengthening defence and the defence industry, NATO members must cooperate with one another and take advantage of opportunities to support the arms industry, which come, for example, from the European Union level. The NATO foreign ministers in Sweden also discussed defence spending, and according to Blanar, they agreed that member countries are willing to implement the conclusions on increasing defence spending that were adopted in The Hague. "The Slovak Republic is already meeting the 2-percent defence spending target. And what's important is that we're also meeting the 35-percent share of that 2 percent that goes directly towards modernising the military," said Blanar. Slovakia's chief diplomat considers the stability of the Western Balkan countries to be very important, and Slovakia supports them in their integration into the European Union. He noted that NATO and KFOR forces, in which Slovak troops form part, play an important role in maintaining security in the region. "If necessary, we're also prepared to increase our contribution to our unit, which is part of the mission, because the security of the Western Balkans and the countries of the Western Balkans is very important for the future stability and security of all of Europe," stated Blanar. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini met Slovak MEPs at the Presidential Palace on Friday to discuss the future budget of the European Union (EU), the implementation of the EU Migration Pact and security challenges, the President's Office has told TASR, noting that this was the second meeting of its kind. According to the head of state, the meeting was aimed at creating space for a substantive and dignified dialogue even amid differing political stances and to identify possible common ground in advancing Slovakia's interests in the EU. "Slovakia needs a clear, confident and constructive voice in Europe that can defend our national interests while also understanding the value of cooperation and dialogue within the EU," stated Pellegrini. The discussions focused, for example, on the future EU budget. In this context, the president emphasised that the rules for allocating European funds must remain fair and transparent. The implementation of the EU Migration Pact and the need for a fair assessment of the actual burden on individual member states were also discussed. BRUSSELS - The energy and economic security of the European Union were high on the agenda of Friday's talks among EU ministers, stated Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council - trade segment in Brussels. Sakova confirmed that EU representatives view energy security as a priority - with the questions of whether there will be sufficient energy resources and whether there is appropriate diversification of individual suppliers or transit routes viewed as key elements - but the issue of economic security is also becoming very urgent. "This means that, in addition to energy prices, we must also focus on preserving what we have in Europe. We need to safeguard our supply chains, not only for the automotive and steel industries - which have traditionally been dominant in Europe - but also, for example, in the production of semiconductors or synthetic fertilisers," she said. The minister pointed out that Europe lacks sufficient mineral resources and that Europeans depend on other countries to supply these raw materials. "This was the main issue that we discussed," she noted. am