MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 16 June 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 15 June): BRATISLAVA - Slovak ministers and deputy ministers and their Indian counterparts signed a series of memoranda of understanding on Monday covering cooperation in defence, higher education and digitisation, with the agreements put to ink during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bratislava. Modi also invited Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to pay an official visit to India. Fico stated that he's fully prepared for the trip, describing it as another important step in strengthening relations between Slovakia and India. The two countries signed a declaration of intent on defence cooperation, along with a memorandum on cooperation in digital technologies, a memorandum of understanding on labour mobility, a memorandum on cooperation in higher education and research, and a memorandum on audiovisual production covering the period 2026-2030. "Today, the prime minister and I agreed to elevate cooperation between Slovakia and India to a level that can be described as strategic [...] The fact remains that this visit by the head of government of the world's largest country, accompanied by a large delegation, is taking our cooperation to a higher level," stated Fico. BRATISLAVA - I currently see no reason to remove House Vice-chair Martin Dubeci (Progressive Slovakia/PS) from office, Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) told reporters in Parliament on Monday in response to their questions regarding statements by representatives of the coalition Smer-SD party, who have announced plans to draft a motion to dismiss Dubeci. "Dubeci is an MP like any other. He performs his duties as parliamentary vice-chair, as the other House vice-chairs do; he fulfils what Parliament and the laws require of him," he stated. According to Rasi, no one has discussed a possible no-confidence motion in Dubeci or the reasons for this with Voice-SD. "At this moment, until they provide some other information, evidence, or something, I really don't see any reason for his ouster," he added. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party will submit amendments to criminal codes aimed at strengthening protection against tax fraud during September's session of Parliament, having adopted a proposal that Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka sent to House chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) three months ago, PS representatives announced at a press conference on Monday. PS said that it will also incorporate its own proposals into the amendment. At the same time, it questioned why Rasi hasn't yet acted on Zilinka's proposal. The party also called on Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) to address the issue, arguing that the changes could potentially bring hundreds of millions of extra euros into the state budget. "The aim is at least a partial restoration of justice in criminal activity, meaning stricter rules for economic crimes as well, which would result in significantly better tax collection and, consequently, better economic outcomes for the government," said PS MP Stefan Kiss concerning Zilinka's proposal. He noted that the state has lost €1.2 billion in tax revenues since the beginning of the current parliamentary term due to the lower levels of tax collected. "I'd be very interested to know how Ladislav Kamenicky has familiarised himself with this legislation, what he intends to do about it, and why he has failed to act for three months," said Kiss. BRATISLAVA - I haven't yet decided whether to run for the post of Bratislava mayor, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) told TASR on Monday, asking for time until the end of June to make his decision. "No decision has been made on this matter yet. Please give me until the end of June, and I'll provide an update and answer all questions," stated Raz, adding that he doesn't wish to comment further on a potential candidacy. He'll subsequently announce whether he's decided to run for Bratislava mayor or not, and he'll also reveal the reasons for his decision, whatever they may be. He had originally indicated that he'd decide based on a May poll. Before announcing a potential candidacy, he didn't want to comment further on the polls, either. He considers them to be hypothetical, as he's still the transport minister and hasn't announced his candidacy. Regarding the setting up of a transparent bank account, he noted that he was required by law to do so because any expenses that could be related to a future candidacy - even before it is announced - must be paid from such a bank account. BRATISLAVA - Nearly all public universities and research institutions have seen a significant improvement in the quality of science and the arts when compared to 2022, according to the results of a periodic evaluation of research, development, artistic, and other creative activities for 2020-2024 called VER 2026, which Education, Research, Development and Youth Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) presented at a press conference on Monday, stressing that the quality of science and the arts has increased by 40 percent when compared to the previous evaluation in 2022. The evaluation provides a comprehensive overview of the quality of creative activities at Slovak public universities and public research institutions across 28 research areas. According to Drucker, a total of 169 foreign experts from 23 countries working at 88 universities or research institutes assessed the level of Slovak science in an international context. A total of 6,750 outputs and 10,000 employees were evaluated. The evaluation covered areas such as scientific and artistic outputs, the creative environment for science, research and the arts, and the societal impact of science, the arts and research. "We haven't seen any significant decline when compared to the previous assessment. We'll continue to evaluate universities based on their results," said Drucker, adding that it appears that the reforms being implemented are yielding results and will continue to do so further. BRATISLAVA - Consumer prices of goods and services rose by 0.4 percent month-on-month (m-o-m) and 3.8 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in May 2026, the Statistics Office reported on Monday, adding that the figures were slightly lower than in April in both m-o-m and y-o-y comparisons. In monthly terms, prices rose in ten of the thirteen household expenditure groups, ranging from 0.1 percent in the IT sector and in catering and accommodation services up to 1 percent in transport. Conversely, prices of household equipment and maintenance, and of insurance and financial services posted a drop of 0.2 percent (each). The prices of educational services remained unchanged from April. The month-on-month result was primarily affected by a rise in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.6 percent), which posted growth following three months of declines. This segment is the second-largest component of Slovak household spending (21 percent). Food prices increased by 0.6 percent from April, with five of the nine food categories recording price rises. ko