MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 8 September 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 7 September): BRATISLAVA - The Administrative Court in Bratislava has confirmed that the Environment Ministry acted in accordance with the law in all preparatory work relating to the Malinec-Latky pumped-storage hydro-power plant (HPP), TASR was told by the ministry's press office on Monday. The ministry stated that the court had also dismissed the administrative appeal lodged by non-governmental organisations. It also rejected the application for suspensive effect, thereby following on from the July ruling of the Constitutional Court, which stated that the actions of the state and the investor to date had been fully in accordance with the Slovak Constitution and applicable legislation. In its ruling, the court states that state-run water-management construction company Vodohospodarska vystavba didn't deviate from the legal framework, including the law on significant investments and the Geological Act. "Similarly, the administrative court deemed the alleged infringements of property rights claimed by activists to be unfounded," noted the Environment Ministry. Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (an SNS nominee) welcomed the ruling. "I am very pleased that the Environment Ministry has won another court case, this time at the Administrative Court in Bratislava. This is already the second victory following the Constitutional Court's ruling, in which the non-governmental organisations, also represented by expert Kica, lost the court case concerning the Malinec pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant," the minister said in a video posted on social media. PRESOV - The Regional Court in Presov on Monday remanded in custody a foreign national accused of a particularly serious crime of endangering public safety at the preparatory stage, in connection with a planned arson attack on a manufacturing plant in eastern Slovakia, thereby overturning in its entirety the decision of the Presov District Court, which had released the accused from detention last week, spokesperson for the Presov Regional Court Ivana Petrufova told TASR on the same day, adding that the decision is final. According to her, the court also refused to accept the defendant's written undertaking to lead a law-abiding life as an alternative to custody. Nor did it replace custody with supervision by a probation and mediation officer. The Presov District Court didn't remand the accused in custody and released him from detention on 1 September. The court said that according to the available evidence, there wasn't even a hint that the accused was aware of the planned arson attack. The prosecutor lodged an appeal against the court's decision. BRATISLAVA - The Council of the Arts Support Fund (FPU) has decided to cancel the current call for applications for the post of fund director and to launch a new one, emphasising that this was its own decision, adopted within the scope of its statutory powers and in the interests of FPU, Adriana Zalesakova from the fund told TASR on Monday. "The Council is taking this step with the aim of ensuring an election that won't give rise to doubts about its conduct or outcome. The confidence of the candidates, experts and the general public in the proper conduct of the process is essential to the Council," said Zalesakova, maintaining that the cancellation of the call for applications doesn't concern any of the candidates and doesn't constitute an expression of support for or rejection of any particular candidacy. Zalesakova noted that the Council will publish a new call for applications, including the conditions and timetable, on the Fund's website and will inform the public. According to her, applicants who submitted an application under the cancelled call will be informed of the next steps and will be able to re-apply. BRATISLAVA - The result of the German regional election shouldn't lead to calls for war with Russia as the only way to cover up the ruling parties' defeat, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said in a statement on the victory of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. "I have just one wish: that this result in the German regional election doesn't lead to calls for war with Russia as the only way to cover up the ruling parties' defeat. For, as the old saying goes, Germany doesn't make small mistakes," pointed out Fico. According to the premier, German voters gave one party, AfD, a resounding victory in a democratic regional election. He described this as a sovereign decision by the electorate in a sovereign country. Therefore, according to the prime minister, "it is not appropriate to comment on the election result as the end of democracy or something terrifying". In general, however, he said that if ruling parties fail to tackle illegal migration, are militant and support wars, and refuse to acknowledge the "dreadful" impact of European climate policy on competitiveness, then they lose. At the same time, they are replaced by other parties, which often offer simple, yet effective, solutions. KOSICE/BRATISLAVA - Linking industry, energy and new technologies was the focus of a meeting of the economic affairs committees of the parliaments of the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), held in Kosice on Monday. "We see artificial intelligence as a major opportunity to boost productivity and modernise our economies. However, its use must be safe, transparent, responsible and human-centred," declared Robert Puci (Voice-SD), who chairs the Slovak Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee. Parliamentary representatives from Slovakia, Czechia, Poland and Hungary agreed that the four countries have strong industrial bases and, if they are to remain competitive, they must increasingly link these strengths with research, innovation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence. Puci noted that the development of artificial intelligence is also increasing demand for computing capacity, digital infrastructure and secure and resilient energy supplies. "It is also important that the technological transformation benefits not only large companies but also small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, we must invest in education, digital skills and preparing people for a changing labour market," he said. NOWA DEBA - On Monday in Nowa Deba, in Podkarpackie province, Slovakia and Poland signed a letter of intent to establish bilateral cooperation under the SAFE initiative, which is intended to set out the future direction in the field of security and the defence industry, TASR has learnt from its special correspondent in Warsaw, who referred to a post on X by the Polish Defence Ministry. It was signed by Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) on behalf of Slovakia and by Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on the Polish side. According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, the cooperation covers two areas, including ammunition and the SAN programme, which focuses on defence against drones. The Polish minister highlighted Slovakia's manufacturing capacity, experience and know-how in the field of ammunition production. "Slovakia has been known for many years as a manufacturer of ammunition, with a particular focus recently on 155-millimetre calibre ammunition," he wrote. ko