MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 4 July 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 3 July): BRATISLAVA - The conclusions of the planned NATO summit in Ankara will not create any obligation for Slovakia to participate in a financial mechanism intended to provide military support to Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico declared on Friday. In an exchange of letters with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Fico confirmed to TASR that Slovakia will not be bound by any such commitment. Fico said the Slovak government believes the conflict in Ukraine has no military solution. "Once again, there is a proposal to adopt a political declaration on a further €70 billion in support for Ukraine in its war against Russia," claimed the prime minister. He added that Slovakia remained ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and continue the mechanism of joint sessions between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments. However, Slovakia will not take part in any financial mechanism for military support to Ukraine. In a letter to Rutte dated 1 July, Fico said he believed "there will be no misunderstandings with respect to the conclusions of the NATO summit in Ankara and that the sovereign position of the Slovak government will be fully respected". In his reply of 2 July, Rutte said the summit declaration will be a political and strategic statement agreed by all 32 allied leaders. "The summit declaration will in no way predetermine the sovereign decisions of individual Allies — including your country — regarding support for Ukraine," the NATO Secretary General wrote. Fico added that while he could not prevent Germany or France from granting Ukraine a loan if they chose to do so, Slovakia will not join such an initiative, just as it had not participated in the €90 billion European Union loan for Ukraine. "No obligation for any individual member state can be inferred from the summit conclusions. Therefore, just as was the case with the European Union loan, the same will apply to any commitment that a group of NATO member states may decide to undertake," Fico said. BRATISLAVA - The Office for the Fight Against Organised Crime (UBOK) has carried out an operation targeting an organised criminal group whose structure and methods were similar to those of gangs operating in Slovakia during the 1990s. Police detained 12 people and charged nine. Prosecutors have sought pre-trial detention for seven of those charged, police said on social media. The group is alleged to have used extortion, violence, intimidation, corruption and economic pressure to gain control over parts of the business environment. A total of 426 police officers took part in the operation. Officers carried out 14 house searches, 19 searches of other premises and 16 personal searches. During the operation, police seized mobile phones, laptops, USB drives and other digital storage devices, GSM jammers, GPS trackers, audio and video recording equipment, cash in various currencies, ammunition and other items allegedly used in criminal activity, including canisters containing flammable liquid. PRAGUE/BRATISLAVA - The Czech Republic supports Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's proposal for the Visegrad Group (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) to resume coordination meetings ahead of EU summits, TASR learnt from its special correspondent in Prague on Friday. Responding to TASR at the start of Slovakia's presidency of the V4, the Czech Foreign Ministry said that it welcomes the platform's return to active cooperation. "After a period of reduced activity, we welcome Visegrad cooperation becoming active again. The Czech Republic wants the V4 to serve above all as a practical platform for cooperation among four sovereign states on issues where we share common interests," said Czech Foreign Ministry spokesperson Adam Corgo. Speaking at the V4 summit in Godollo last week, Fico called for the prime ministers of the V4 countries to hold talks before every meeting of the European Council to coordinate their positions. The Czech Republic supports this proposal. "We support the resumption of regular coordination meetings ahead of European Union summits. If common positions can be found, it's only natural to promote them together at the European level," added Corgo. Slovakia assumed the rotating V4 presidency on 1 July, taking over from Hungary. During its one-year term, it aims to strengthen the group's ability to seek common solutions in areas of shared interest while making a constructive contribution to the unity and strength of the European Union and NATO. BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a press conference on Friday that he's officially asked M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava and the Transport Ministry to submit a strategy for the airport's further development in light of its economic growth and rising passenger numbers. Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) and Bratislava Airport's general director Dusan Novota also attended the press conference. According to Fico, the strategy should be submitted to a government meeting in August or September. "What I'm primarily referring to is the expansion of the terminal. This is a must, because when we built this terminal, we knew that there was room to continue construction in the same vein," said Fico. The total cost of expanding the airport or building a new terminal, including aircraft stands, as made necessary by a surge in passenger numbers, has been estimated at €50 million, with the airport planning to take out a loan. "I suppose that we could classify such an investment as a strategic one again, thus speeding up the processes if necessary, but we're standing on state-owned land. After all, this is state property, so there shouldn't be any problems," said Fico. He confirmed continued interest in developing the airport under full ownership of the state, without contemplating any privatisation, as he doesn't believe in privatising strategic enterprises and assets. Fico expects banks to be interested in cooperating with the airport due to its positive economic results over the past two years. "The new terminal, the expansion of the terminal, and the stands can be financed by the airport from a standard commercial loan. Its financial condition is clearly excellent, and in this case we're capable of handling such construction projects by standard commercial means," said Fico, who expects Raz and Novota to prepare the initial visualisations and schedule. "As long as you are ready, we'll be ready to approve this project so that you have the necessary support," added Fico. BRATISLAVA - If a general election had been held in June, Progressive Slovakia (PS) would have won with 18.1 percent of the vote, followed by the Smer-SD party, supported by 17.7 percent of voters, according to a Focus agency poll conducted for the 360tka news website. A total of seven parties would have entered Parliament. The third-largest support would have gone to the far-right Republic party with 11.6 percent of the vote. Also making it to Parliament would have been the 'Slovakia' party (9 percent), Voice-SD (8 percent), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS, 7 percent) and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH, 6.7 percent). Among the parties that would have stayed outside Parliament were Democrats (4.8 percent), the currently governing Slovak National Party (4.2 percent), the Hungarian Alliance (3.9 percent) and 'We Are Family' (2.8 percent). The survey was conducted on a sample of 1,027 respondents between June 22 and 29. mf