MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 3 October 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 2 October): BRATISLAVA - Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a SNS nominee) plans to propose changes to ban using funds, earmarked for cultural support, to finance any marches or political rallies, TASR learnt on Friday. "I do not consider any march, regardless of who organises it, to be a cultural event," the minister declared in a statement, in which she also rejected criticism of the ministry over grants awarded to Bratislava Pride and the International Film Festival. "I reject having three years of the ministry's work assessed solely by two grants, for which we followed the applicable rules. Decisions taken out of context and political outbursts cannot be presented as evidence that I have abandoned my priorities," Simkovicova stated. She explained that the grants were awarded under the applicable rules of the Culture of Disadvantaged Groups funding programme and that an expert committee had recommended supporting the applications. "The queer political agenda is not and will not be my programme, and I disagree with the ideological message of both events. Disagreement with the organisers' views, however, is not a reason to reject a project," Simkovicova underlined, suggesting that in this case a rejection "could give Brussels an excuse to take billions of euros in EU funds intended for Slovak municipalities, roads and hospitals". In this context, Simkovicova asked why the European Parliament has included people belonging to the LGBTI+ community among disadvantaged groups. "Is it fair for people with genuinely serious disabilities to be placed in the same category as people who identify as queer? Is it fair for them to share grants with people who in fact face no obstacles to creative work?" the minister asked. She said that, for these reasons, she plans to propose changes to the rules to ensure that money intended for culture could not be used to finance any marches or political rallies, regardless of who organises them. "I do not consider any march, regardless of who organises it, to be a cultural event. This has nothing to do with art," Simkovicova said. She nevertheless again rejected any labelling of people and stoking of passions. BRATISLAVA - Opposition parties PS, SaS and 'Slovakia' criticise the coalition agreement on the draft state budget for next year, which envisages a deficit of 4.94 percent of GDP, lambasting in particular the decision to keep the transaction tax in place until 2028 and the lack of savings measures on the state side. The opposition parties accuse the government of preparing an election-oriented budget at the expense of the people and businesses. PS chair Michal Simecka described the decision to retain the transaction tax as another devastating piece of news. "This is another devastating piece of news for the Slovak economy and businesses, together with the fact that the government plans a deficit of almost 5 percent of GDP. They do not know how to govern and are leading us towards bankruptcy. They should step aside; people in Slovakia really deserve a better government than this dysfunctional coalition," he stated. According to SaS, postponing the abolition of the transaction tax until January 2028 is a mockery of the business sector, which will have to pay the tax for another 15 months, generating approximately €500 million in revenue. SaS chair Branislav Groehling said that instead of making savings, the government was preparing an election-oriented budget aimed at satisfying the demands of individual MPs. SaS vice-chair Marian Viskupic added that the government was failing to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, under which it should have submitted a balanced budget. "It's not even keeping its own promises, when it said it would submit a budget with a deficit of 3 percent. It's not in any dialogue with the social partners at all," he warned. The 'Slovakia' party also voiced criticism, with MP Julius Jakab underlining that the Cabinet has abandoned any savings measures and planned to increase borrowing to an unprecedented level while paying high interest rates. He warned that the government's tenure will result in an increase in debt of €27 billion, which might worsen Slovakia's credit ratings and lead the country down what he called the "Greek path". Earlier on Friday, the coalition agreed on a state budget with a deficit of 4.94 percent of GDP, without increasing taxes or levies. According to Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), the agreement is a compromise that complies with European Commission rules. The agreement with SNS also includes the abolition of the transaction tax from 2028; until then, its revenues are needed to cover budget priorities. BRATISLAVA - The Coalition Council has agreed on next year's budget with a deficit of 4.94 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), plus the abolition of the transaction tax as of 2028, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) announced after the meeting held at the Government Office on Friday. "I would describe the entire budget as a compromise between what the state coffers can afford and the priorities of the individual coalition parties," said Kamenicky, calling the approach taken by coalition partners constructive. He insists that the current government will hand over public finances in a better condition than they were when it inherited them, with the deficit roughly 1.5 percentage points of GDP lower than at the start of the government's term. According to Kamenicky, the budget complies with all of the European Commission's (EC) fiscal rules. Kamenicky highlighted that neither taxes nor levies will increase next year and that money intended for people will remain untouched. Even though certain cuts have been made at individual ministries, this was done without applying an across-the-board approach, he said. "We've found money for energy assistance next year, and we've also found money for indexing salaries. We've found money for drought measures, as well as for various transport projects," said Kamenicky, adding that he'll present the details of the budget after it's approved by the government. As for the priorities that the individual coalition partners managed to include in the budget, he said that they should present them themselves. According to Kamenicky, the budget parameters must also be acceptable to the financial markets. “We have the confidence of the financial markets and want to preserve it. We'll be handing over a lower deficit than the one we inherited," he stressed. Regarding the transaction tax, Kamenicky praised the agreement reached with the junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) to scrap it as of 31 December 2027. "Basically, they want it to be abolished somehow by the end of next year. As I've said, the transaction tax isn't a sacred cow for me, but I have to point out that we simply need these funds next year, given that we had to accommodate various demands from our coalition partners, as well as certain priorities that may come up," stated Kamenicky. BRATISLAVA - The government intends to finalise its choice of environment minister next week, with Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman Andrej Danko stating that Deputy Environment Minister Filip Kuffa is set to be given the nod. Danko declared this after his meeting on Friday with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and a session of the coalition council. "I had talks with the prime minister, and now I will also hold talks with Mr. Kuffa. On Monday [5 October], final personnel changes should take place at the level of the general secretary of the service office at the Environment Ministry and others. And we agreed that we'll finalise the choice of the minister on Tuesday [6 October] or Wednesday [7 October]," stated Danko. The coalition council met at the Government Office on Friday to discuss the draft state budget. The meeting was convened by the prime minister, who also held talks with the SNS chair on the same day about staffing the Environment Ministry. On Wednesday (30 September), Fico said he was prepared to resolve the appointment of the head of the ministry in cooperation with the SNS. Kuffa confirmed on Thursday (1 October) that he is the party's only candidate. Former environment minister Tomas Taraba was dismissed by President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday. He was removed after Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in him the previous day, with the president temporarily entrusting the prime minister with running the ministry. The opposition, together with SNS, succeeded in passing the no-confidence motion against Taraba. An open dispute between SNS and its nominee Taraba had lasted several months. At SNS's request, the prime minister eventually submitted a proposal to the president in mid-September to dismiss Taraba. He subsequently withdrew it, citing the risk of the coalition losing its parliamentary majority. SNS described the move as a breach of the coalition agreement. BRATISLAVA - The junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) has managed to push through the abolition of the transaction tax as of 31 December 2027, TASR was told by SNS spokesperson Zuzana Skopcova on Friday. SNS is also taking the credit for securing the return of €5 million from ticket sales for cultural events to the Culture Ministry's budget, added Skopcova. "The key point is that every pensioner over the age of 85 will receive a pension of €700 [per month] or more, regardless of the pension that they received before reaching this age," underlined SNS. The party added that it considers the talks with its coalition partners to be constructive, and it expressed the hope that the state budget will be approved without the introduction of new taxes or the placing of an additional burden on the public. BRATISLAVA - The opposition 'Slovakia' party is inviting representatives of opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the extra-parliamentary Democrats to join it on the squares of regional cities on 17 November to send a signal to the public that they are capable of cooperating, 'Slovakia' leader Igor Matovic told a news conference on Friday, noting that 17 November marks the public holiday known as the Day of the Fight for Freedom and Democracy. "For 17 November, the 'Slovakia' party has reserved squares in all regional capitals except Bratislava. Therefore, I'm hereby inviting representatives of what we call [PS leader Michal] 'Simecka's Four' – PS, SaS, KDH and Democrats – to stand alongside us, not behind us, side by side, and send people a signal that we are capable of gathering on the same square, that we can, at least on such a symbolic day, pull together and, above all, offer people hope," said Matovic. The party has reserved public squares for 17 November in the cities of Trnava, Trencin, Nitra, Banska Bystrica, Zilina, Presov and Kosice. Matovic stated that people want to see a united opposition. "And if the opposition can overcome any internal squabbles in this way and put the common and public interest ahead of personal or party interests, people will certainly hold onto that glimmer of hope," he said. 'Slovakia' caucus head Michal Sipos pointed out that the government scrapped 17 November as a rest day, despite it being a public holiday. He thinks that the governing coalition doesn't value freedom and democracy. He also criticised the fact that the start of the next regular House session is scheduled for 17 November. He'll therefore ask the parliamentary leadership to reschedule the start of the session to the previous day. mf