MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, 10 September 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, 9 September): BRATISLAVA - At its meeting on Wednesday, the government approved a document titled 'Vision Slovakia 2040: The Path to a Better Quality of Life', TASR learnt on the same day. This document provides a comprehensive overview of the projected development of Slovak society up to 2040 and sets out the basis for drawing up Slovakia's Development Strategy until 2040. The vision was developed through the collaboration of nearly 400 experts, a series of round-table discussions and regional workshops. The 'Vision Slovakia 2040' document forms the first, conceptual part of the strategic framework for Slovakia's development up to 2040. Its purpose is to define the long-term direction in which the country will develop, the desired state of Slovakia in 2040, the main development objectives and the principles of public policy, which will be followed by the second part, the 'Slovakia 2040 Strategy'. According to the document, presented by the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), this strategy constitutes an implementation framework, including the definition of the reforms and measures necessary to achieve the vision's objectives. SAV has been tasked with ensuring that it's prepared by 31 January 2027, with the document to be submitted to the government by 31 March 2027. The Vision and Strategy are also to be linked to Slovakia's Investment Plan and the National and Regional Partnership Plan for 2028-2034. Their aim is to translate the long-term vision for the country's future into specific reforms and investments. BRATISLAVA - We must apologise to the victims of the Holocaust and racial violence for what they can see from above, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) posted on social media on Wednesday to mark the related remembrance day. "If the victims of the Holocaust and racial violence are looking down on us today, they must be very, very sad," remarked the premier, pointing to current armed conflicts and the situation in certain countries. "Instead of the clinking of glasses and cutlery at high-level diplomatic talks, they can hear the clang of weapons. They must be saddened to see politicians who, unable to govern and tackle the greatest challenges, resort to warmongering and fuelling various conflicts. They must be dismayed to see that in some countries, shopping centres and industrial parks are being built on the sites of former concentration camps. They must also be dissatisfied because, in some countries, the concept of national memory is being shaped in such a way that people who were demonstrably criminals and who perpetrated the Holocaust are being brought to the fore," wrote Fico. Slovakia commemorates 9 September as a national memorial day - the Day of the Victims of the Holocaust and Racial Violence. On this day in 1941, the wartime Slovak government adopted a Jewish Code that introduced a separate legal system for citizens of Jewish origin and faith, significantly restricting their civil, religious, social and basic human rights on the territory of the wartime Slovak republic. BRATISLAVA - General secretary of the Culture Ministry's service office Lukas Machala has been removed from his post, as his dismissal, effective as of Wednesday, was approved by the government. At the same time, the cabinet appointed Machala's successor to the post - Ivan Gaspar, who has until now worked mainly in the private sector; since 2013 he's been the managing director of a consultancy firm specialising primarily in public procurement, monitoring and analysis. During his tenure as general secretary of the ministry's service office, Machala faced fierce criticism from parts of the cultural and artistic community, who accused him of a significant role in the decline and disintegration of Slovak culture. BRATISLAVA - By the end of this year Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) is due to conclude agreements with the US government needed for producing and supplying additional F-16 Block 70 aircraft, with the government approving the draft intention at its session on Wednesday. The plan to procure fighters is related to the changing security situation, including in the vicinity of Slovakia's borders. "After assessing the risks, requirements and NATO demands, there's a need to expand the F-16 C/D Block 70 fleet with additional aircraft so that the Slovak Armed Forces can carry out missions and training on their own territory while also providing support as part of EU and NATO operations," stated the Defence Ministry. It noted that in 2018, Slovakia procured its first 14 F-16s, the minimum number required to carry out NATINAMDS, Air to Air and Air to Ground missions on Slovak territory, with a view to potentially participating in operations outside Slovakia as well. The newly procured aircraft meet these standards, are fully interoperable with the equipment of other NATO countries, and are adequately equipped to meet NATO requirements for a modern tactical aircraft. Last year, Slovakia therefore sent a request to the US government to prepare an international agreement for supplying four additional fighter jets with the V4 modification. "Under international agreements, F-16 C/D Block 70 aircraft were supplied with the V3 modification, which was offered at the time when these agreements were being prepared and signed, in 2018. The V4 modification differs from the V3 one in its avionic equipment and certain systems, which are now being produced to reflect technological progress when compared to the original 2018 modification," explained the ministry. BRATISLAVA - The charges pressed against Government Proxy for Investigating COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar for spreading a false alarm have been dropped, Prosecutor-General's (PG) Office spokesperson Zuzana Drobova has confirmed for TASR. The reason given was the identification of serious substantive and formal legal deficiencies, which meant that the resolution on the indictment couldn't serve as a lawful basis for criminally prosecuting the charged individual. "The first deputy prosecutor-general, acting on behalf of the PG in the appeals proceedings, cancelled the resolution to bring charges against the charged P.K. on 2 September 2026," said Drobova, adding that he's ordered a Police Corps investigator to act and decide on the matter again. MPs of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party filed the complaint after Kotlar claimed that the results of his analysis of COVID-19 vaccine batches used in Slovakia showed that all tested mRNA vaccine batches contained genetic material capable of modifying human DNA. He argued that this could lead to the development of several serious diseases. His statements were condemned by both the scientific community and health authorities, who pointed out that Kotlar had provided no scientific evidence for his claims. The Bratislava Regional Prosecutor's Office confirmed in October 2025 that a criminal prosecution had been launched in connection with the proxy's statements. The police reported in January of this year that the criminal prosecution concerning the crime of spreading a false alarm was still ongoing. BRATISLAVA - The Justice Ministry has taken note of the Constitutional Court's decision concerning parts of legislation governing the composition of disciplinary panels, but seeing as it does not yet have the reasoning behind the decision, the ministry will be able to issue a comprehensive statement only after receiving and reviewing it, ministry spokesperson Barbora Skulova told TASR on Wednesday. The ministry highlighted a legislative change that was not challenged by the Constitutional Court, namely the introduction of two-instance disciplinary proceedings. "Two-instance disciplinary proceedings are crucial for fairness, credibility and legal certainty when deciding on the disciplinary liability of judges, prosecutors, notaries and bailiffs," Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) said. He underlined that the possibility of having a decision independently reviewed at a second level is not a formality but one of the basic safeguards against error, arbitrariness or an incorrect legal assessment. "Precisely in disciplinary proceedings, which can have a fundamental impact on the professional and personal lives of judges, prosecutors, notaries and bailiffs, such a guarantee is particularly important," Susko emphasised. If disciplinary proceedings are to command public confidence, he said, they must be not only lawful but also impartial, transparent and genuinely two-instance. "That is why I am pleased that, in this matter, the Constitutional Court confirmed the constitutional conformity of this legal framework," he added. Earlier in the day, the Constitutional Court ruled that parts of the laws governing the formation and composition of disciplinary panels of the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) are not in line with the Constitution. The provisions were introduced by a government amendment to the laws on judges and lay judges and on the NSS disciplinary code. Parliament approved the amendment last September after a group of opposition MPs challenged it before the Constitutional Court. The MPs also challenged a provision barring NSS judges who have served as judges for fewer than 10 years from serving as chair or member of a disciplinary panel. In this case too, the Constitutional Court confirmed that the provision was contrary to the Constitution. BRATISLAVA - The pressure exerted by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka to resign from his post goes beyond the bounds of legitimate political criticism to which politicians are entitled, the Prosecutors' Council warned on Wednesday. The council added that attempts to drag prosecution authorities and individual prosecutors into political battles undermines public confidence in the lawfulness of prosecutors' actions and decisions, thereby reinforcing perceptions that the rule of law is being undermined, the council's chair Marian Corba told TASR. "The lawfulness and justification of prosecutors' actions and decisions in specific criminal proceedings can only be reviewed through procedural means established by law, and not through public political pressure," said Corba. He described calls for specific prosecutors to be removed from the Prosecutor-General's Office without respecting the statutory conditions for transferring a prosecutor to another prosecution office or calls to terminate a prosecutor's service as unacceptable. According to Corba, the prosecution service cannot be considered independent of political influence only when its actions and decisions correspond to the political views of the government in power. The Prosecutors' Council rejects any attempts to exert political influence over prosecutorial decision-making and criminal proceedings. It considers respect for the mutual independence of constitutional bodies to be one of the fundamental conditions for the functioning of the rule of law, and restoring faith in this should be a common goal of the entire political elite regardless of party affiliation. According to the council, Fico's message that the government will prepare and approve a far-reaching reform of the prosecution service if Zilinka doesn't resign amounts to direct interference by the executive branch in the impartiality of the prosecution service and constitutes unacceptable political pressure not only on the prosecutor-general but on all prosecutors. jrg