MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 30 July 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 29 July): BRATISLAVA - President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) held a working meeting in Bratislava lasting several hours on Wednesday, TASR has learnt from Fico's post on social media. The premier stated that he and the UAE president had agreed on specific cooperation regarding an infrastructure project on the River Danube in Bratislava and on continuing projects already underway in the defence industry. "We also discussed a public-private partnership (PPP) project in the Slovak agricultural sector relating to irrigation, as well as the possible entry of an investor from the UAE into the Slovak spa industry under the state control. In addition to other subjects, we asked the president for his support in establishing a direct flight route between Bratislava and Dubai or Abu Dhabi," the premier told TASR, noting that they also discussed the current security situation in the Middle East and Ukraine. According to Fico, the working meeting followed on from his visit to the UAE in October last year. "The visit of a prominent figure in world politics to Slovakia is further confirmation of the soundness of our sovereign foreign affairs policy oriented in all four cardinal directions," stated the prime minister, adding that Wednesday's meeting deepened friendly relations. BEIJING - Current relations between Slovakia and China provide a good basis for intensifying trade and economic cooperation, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference following his talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji in Beijing on Wednesday. Among other things, they discussed opportunities to further strengthen cooperation between their two countries, said Pellegrini, who sees potential especially in areas such as the latest technologies and the automotive industry. "Both partners acknowledged the high level of our mutual relations. They even described them as currently the best in the history of diplomatic relations between China and Slovakia. Hearing this from the Chinese prime minister himself provides a good basis for intensifying trade and economic cooperation," stated the Slovak president. Pellegrini declared that Slovakia will create a stable and predictable environment for further Chinese investment in areas in which the two sides can complement each other. He can see room for further cooperation in modern technologies and the automotive industry. He indicated that the list of potential investments includes, for example, a Chinese carmaker that could decide to manufacture its vehicles in Slovakia. "I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves, as it's still only in the process of some talks," he said. BRATISLAVA - Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) MEP Veronika Cifrova Ostrihonova and MP Oskar Dvorak (PS) have asked the European Commission (EC) to examine the proposed acquisition of private health-insurer Union by private health-insurer Dovera, arguing that the planned merger poses a significant risk to Slovakia's public health-insurance system. "As politicians working on health-care policy at both the European and national levels, we want to highlight potential concerns regarding the impact of this transaction on competition, patient choice and the functioning of Slovakia's public health-insurance system. We're drawing the Commission's attention to a situation in Slovakia where a merger would undermine the market, leaving people with only two insurers instead of three," said Dvorak, according to a statement provided to TASR by PS media representative Tereza Mikacova. Cifrova Ostrihonova accentuated that PS isn't questioning the right of companies to carry out legitimate business transactions, but she argued that Slovakia's situation is unique. "The Penta financial group owns networks of hospitals, outpatient clinics and pharmacies, and it's moving towards an almost 50-percent share of the health-insurance market. We're therefore concerned about how this merger will affect the public health-insurance system. Patients' interests must come before the interests of financial groups," she said. BRATISLAVA - Nuclear energy is one of the stable pillars of large-scale electricity supplies, but the European Commission has ignored it in its new action plan, said chairman of the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) Jozef Holjencik in a statement on Wednesday, adding that member states should insist on a more realistic, technically sound and financially sustainable approach to electricity. "We consider the greatest shortcoming to be the ongoing effort to 'force' energy generated from renewable sources across the whole of Europe, which only unnecessarily increases transmission and distribution costs while simultaneously overloading transmission system capacities," said Holjencik, adding that electricity will only fulfil its role as the most accessible source when it is generated from stable sources and each member state produces enough energy to meet its own needs. The authority considers the aim to double the share of electricity in the EU's end energy consumption by 2040 to be ambitious, but without clear support for stable sources this is more of a political aspiration than a technically sound target. The plan sets a target of 46 percent, while the current share stands at 23 percent. BRATISLAVA - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party and the extra-parliamentary Democrats have raised concerns over suspected irregularities in timber harvesting in Muranska Planina National Park. Democrats claim the state may have lost up to €1 million via overpriced contracts and unfavourable pricing, while SaS alleges illegal felling of healthy trees and damage to valuable forest areas. The park administration told TASR that it's filed a criminal complaint over suspected unauthorised handling of timber. The Democrats said that the national park may have overpaid at least €478,000 in 2025 alone because of the way in which a timber harvesting tender was structured. They called on the Environment Ministry to publish the audit of logging in Slovakia's national parks that it announced in May. According to the party, the Slovak Forestry and Timber Inspection (SLDI) is currently carrying out an extensive inspection in Muranska Planina. "Publicly available information relating to selected forest areas in the Pohorela forest district, compared with satellite imagery, raises suspicions that hundreds to thousands of cubic metres of timber may have been harvested in breach of the Forestry Act, to the detriment of the state. And we are talking about only one location; it is likely that the inspection covers a larger area around Zavadka nad Hronom," said Democrats representative Michal Kica. BRATISLAVA - Ships with deeper draughts are unable to navigate certain sections of the River Danube in Slovakia due to unfavourable water levels, the Transport Authority told TASR on Wednesday, adding that until conditions improve, these vessels will remain in ports or at anchor. "The current water levels are unfavourable for vessels with deeper draughts. As these vessels are unable to navigate certain sections of the Danube, they'll remain in ports or at anchor, awaiting an improvement in the hydrological situation," stated the authority. The Danube is currently at an exceptionally low level. The river's current low flow rates are among the lowest in recent decades. Measures have therefore been taken to manage water more efficiently. "In order to make the most efficient use of the available water, in cooperation with Slovak Water Management Company (SVP) and the Transport Authority, we have, among other things, adjusted the arrangements for vessels passing through the locks at the Gabcikovo Waterworks [Trnava region]," stated state-run water-management construction company Vodohospodarska vystavba (VV) on social media. ko