MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 18 October 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 17 October): SPISSKA NOVA VES – Voice-SD party leader Matus Sutaj Estok urges citizens to take part in the combined local and regional elections, underlining that they offer a democratic opportunity to decide who will govern towns, municipalities and self-governing regions in the coming years. "I appeal to all people of Slovakia to exercise their right to vote on 24 October. It is not an obligation, but an opportunity and a privilege of democracy," Sutaj Estok declared at a press conference in Spisska Nova Ves on Saturday. He also expressed his wish for the highest possible voter turnout. "Direct democracy is precisely about being able to choose who will represent you at the head of a region, town or municipality, and which representatives will sit on the individual councils," he pointed out. Regarding the election for Kosice regional governor, he endorsed the candidacy of MP Igor Simko, who, he said, was also backed by Smer-SD, the Slovak National Party (SNS), the Republic and other political groups. In Spisska Nova Ves, he expressed his support for incumbent deputy mayor and MP David Demecko. Sutaj Estok also referred to the situation in the Presov region's election. "Unfortunately, the situation in the Presov region is what it is, and I say this as Voice-SD chairman: our voters will probably find it difficult to choose a candidate for regional governor," he said, referring to the fact that the top two frontrunners in the race are incumbent governor and opposition's KDH leader Milan Majersky and far-right MEP Milan Mazurek. The Voice-SD leader underlined the importance of regional politics and cooperation between local and regional authorities and the state. He said it was important for the regions to have strong representation at national level as well. He therefore pointed to the party's long-standing initiative to change the electoral system to ensure that every district had a directly elected member of Parliament. BRATISLAVA – The governing Smer-SD party wants to debate proposals vetoed by President Peter Pellegrini at the current session of Parliament, according to a statement provided to TASR by the party's press department. "All the proposals are on the agenda of the current session, and we want to debate them," Smer-SD said in its statement to TASR. Three pieces of vetoed legislation are due to be discussed at the current session. The president returned the law on so-called Covid amnesties and an amendment to the Gambling Act to Parliament last year. The vetoed amendment to the Food Act has been before the House since May this year. BRATISLAVA - Energy consumption in Slovakia rose last year, but it's been falling over the long term, according to an analysis by the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) reported by the office's spokesperson Radoslav Igaz. Total end consumption of electricity, gas and heat in Slovakia reached 83.959 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.5 percent. Compared with 2021, total energy consumption was more than 15 TWh lower (99.574 TWh in 2021). According to URSO, this trend confirms the ongoing profound changes in the structure of energy consumption as well as the growing importance of energy-saving measures. "The figures for 2025 show that, thanks in part to well-designed regulation, systemic investments in energy efficiency are delivering results and helping to reduce the energy intensity of the Slovak economy and households in the long term," said URSO chairman Jozef Holjencik. End electricity consumption rose year-on-year to 23.574 TWh in 2025 (from 23.081 TWh in 2024). This development was linked to a modest recovery in the Slovak economy, ongoing electrification and higher industrial activity, which was also reflected in a partial increase in demand for electricity. Gas consumption grew last year to 49.097 TWh (from 47.266 TWh in 2024). The increase was mainly driven by colder weather conditions during the heating seasons, government measures in the form of an across-the-board cap on gas prices for households, and growth in consumption in the small-scale and household segments. Conversely, final heat consumption fell year-on-year last year to 11.288 TWh (from 11.594 TWh in 2024). This was mainly due to the cessation of production and supplies by one of the major industrial suppliers of process heat. Investments in the energy efficiency of buildings and the modernisation of industrial facilities also contributed to the decline. BRATISLAVA - Only 30 percent of organisations in Slovakia are concerned that a cyber-attack could take place within the next 12 months, TASR reported earlier this week based on a survey conducted by security software company ESET on the subject 'The Security of Slovak Companies in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (AI)', which was presented at ESET Security Days 2026. Small and medium-sized Slovak enterprises find themselves in a specific situation regarding cyber-security, as they have to tackle a lack of financial resources and qualified specialists. "Today, cyber-security in companies is fundamentally affected by AI. The introduction of AI tools and agents into corporate processes brings entirely new risks. At the same time, AI catalyses threats that already exist, making phishing more convincing, with vulnerability detection becoming automated and the spread of malicious code getting faster. Companies face increasingly complex security requirements, while there's a shortage of experts to manage protection," stated Michal Jankech, vice-president of Enterprise and SMB/MSP segments at ESET. Almost a quarter of Slovak companies (24 percent) said that they've experienced a security incident in the past year, compared with as many as 45 percent globally. Phishing campaigns remain the most common cause of security breaches in Slovakia, accounting for 28 percent, followed by weak passwords, outdated systems and lost or stolen unprotected devices. Budget constraints are a significant problem in Slovakia, with 54 percent of companies identifying them as the main obstacle to improving security, more than twice the global average. Artificial intelligence also poses a particular challenge, as 59 percent of Slovak businesses use AI applications in their work processes, but only 21 percent of them have an internal policy in place to regulate so-called shadow AI [the use of AI tools without the approval of an organisation's IT team - ed. note], thus creating the risk of sensitive corporate data being leaked. Slovak companies also tend to rely heavily on external partners, with 21 percent outsourcing this role entirely and 36 percent combining internal and external resources. Only 12 percent have an in-house specialist. On the upside, however, none of the companies in the survey was planning to cut its cyber-security budget, while more than a fifth expect an increase in funds, in particular when it comes to employee training and data back-ups. mf