MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 2 October 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 1 October): BRATISLAVA - The schoolgirl who was injured in the knife attack that took place at the primary school in the village of Staskov in Cadca district (Zilina region) on Tuesday (29 September) died on Thursday, House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) has announced in Parliament. She has become the second victim of the attack following the 61-year-old teacher who died of her injuries at the scene. Another injured teacher was admitted into hospital. A minute's silence was observed in Parliament in honour of the schoolgirl. "Unfortunately, despite tremendous efforts by the doctors, they were unable to save the young girl's life. I don't think that any of us can imagine the grief that her parents must be going through. We offer our sincere condolences to the whole family and her loved ones," said Rasi. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) wrote on social media that he was struggling to find the right words. "I'm deeply saddened that Nelka, a great little fighter, has lost her toughest battle following the tragedy in Staskov. I offer my sincere condolences to her family," he wrote. BRATISLAVA - Deputy Environment Minister Filip Kuffa on Thursday said that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) will authorise him to sign documents on behalf of the ministry, TASR reported on the same day. Speaking to the media after his meeting with the prime minister, Kuffa also confirmed that he's the junior coalition Slovak National Party's (SNS) only candidate for the ministerial post. The deputy minister said that he should be appointed as minister within two weeks, referring to his previous talks. According to him, Fico is ready to "process" SNS's requests during that period. Tasked by President Peter Pellegrini with heading the Environment Ministry on a temporary basis, Fico visited the ministry on Thursday morning, but he didn't provide a statement to the media despite initial announcements. The dismissed minister Tomas Taraba (an SNS nominee) declined to answer questions from journalists as well. BRATISLAVA - MP Peter Slysko is leaving the parliamentary caucus of the junior coalition Voice-SD party and is also quitting the party, as he announced at a news conference held on Thursday alongside former environment minister Tomas Taraba, who returned to Parliament on the same day to serve as an Independent MP. Taraba called Slysko a political ally. He said that Slysko isn't leaving the Voice-SD caucus in order to go against the government, but so that the two of them can operate together in Parliament freely. Taraba claimed that he and Slysko are ready to engage in constructive discussions with the coalition and don't intend to oppose the government, adding that he aims to be a 'very active' MP. He also stated that the coalition has now 76 votes in Parliament. Slysko said that he's submitted his resignation from the party and its caucus to the Voice-SD leadership. He's also stepping down as Voice-SD's regional chairman in Zilina region. He commented that it was a difficult decision for him, adding that he wants to build a common political future with Taraba. He's becoming an Independent MP, and he and Taraba intend to promote issues in Parliament that are key to developing the regions. "So that politics moves from Parliament to the regions," he said. Taraba declined to confirm whether Investment Ministry State Secretary Radomír Salitos will be the next to return to Parliament. "I won't speak for anyone else," he said. BRATISLAVA/PRESOV - MEP Judita Lassakova (Smer-SD) has withdrawn her candidacy for the post of Presov region governor, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told TASR on Thursday, adding that she made the decision following an agreement with the party leadership, "I would like to thank Judita for this decision, and I have no doubt that she's left a positive mark on Presov region over the past few weeks. She also deserves thanks for her dignified representation of the values and policies pursued by Smer-SD," stated Fico. Lassakova was a candidate of Smer-SD and the Brothers of Slovakia party. Following her departure from the race, ten candidates are now running for Presov region governor. BRATISLAVA - Parliament on Thursday approved a new Civil Code drafted by the Justice Ministry, which considers the existing legislation to be inadequate, explaining that the new legislation aims to regulate the broadest possible range of private-law relations with a view to providing greater consistency and clarity in the legal system, TASR reported on the same day. "The currently valid Civil Code was adopted in 1964, with its content corresponding to the time of its creation; meaning that it was built around typical living conditions under socialism, thus creating unnaturally narrow legal room for people to make free decisions about their own affairs," stated the ministry. "This has resulted not only in a brief legal regulation that omitted many classic legal concepts, but also in an overly simplistic view of law as a set of constraints within which the broad freedoms of an individual may be exercised. Although some of its shortcomings have been rectified over time, the Civil Code remains, in many respects, a regulation governing only basic and typical cases," added the ministry, stating that this is no longer sufficient in today's era characterised by complex social and economic relations. PODGORICA/BRATISLAVA - Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic are supporting Western Balkan countries on their path towards European Union membership within the Austerlitz Format (S3), Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar declared in Podgorica after meeting Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic on Thursday. Blanar travelled to Montenegro together with his Czech and Austrian counterparts, Petr Macinka and Beate Meinl-Reisinger, TASR's special correspondent reported on the same day. According to Blanar, Montenegro is currently the furthest advanced among the candidate countries in the integration process. "We believe that Montenegro should be the one to give new hope to the Western Balkan countries that membership is achievable, because it has already been dragging on for a very long time," the Slovak foreign minister said. Austria currently holds the presidency of the S3 group. One of the S3 activities, in Blanar's view, is supporting Western Balkan countries on their path towards the EU. He pointed out that Slovakia, when it held the presidency, organised a similar visit by the S3 foreign ministers to Albania. ko