MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Monday, 19 October 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Sunday, 18 October): BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini hopes voters will choose their representatives wisely in the combined regional and local elections, taking particular account of candidates' abilities and their track records in serving the public. "Slovakia will hold regional and local elections this Saturday. I believe people will make good choices. When selecting their mayors, regional governors or councillors on municipal and regional assemblies, I hope they will focus above all on candidates' abilities and the work they have done for people so far," the president posted on social media on Sunday. Pellegrini pointed out that he addressed the local elections in his State of the Republic address delivered in Parliament, underlining that the elections' outcome influences how a particular municipality, town or region will develop. "These are very concrete, practical matters influencing the everyday lives of our people, and I really see no reason why parliamentary politics should play a role in this," he stated. BRATISLAVA - Speaking on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) declared he had no objection to commodities transiting Slovakia, provided they don't enter the Slovak market. Opposition's Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) vice-chair Viliam Karas, also on the show, shared this view. The politicians were responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's request for Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary to allow Ukrainian grain to transit their territories amid the blockade in the Black Sea. Takac noted that the government has expanded the list of commodities banned from entering Slovakia from Ukraine, but has not prohibited transit. Karas said Slovakia should help its neighbour while ensuring that the commodities did not reach the domestic market. The discussion also addressed the Slovak National Party's (SNS) nomination for the post of environment minister. According to Takac, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has no contingency plan regarding Filip Kuffa's nomination. If President Peter Pellegrini decides not to appoint Kuffa, the SNS will have to put forward another candidate. BRATISLAVA - Speaking on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday, Labour, Social Affairs and Family Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) declared that he expects the party to secure a double-digit share of the vote in the next parliamentary election and would regard a result below 10 percent as a disappointment. He also rejected claims that Voice-SD's popularity was declining, saying its support has stabilised since January. "We, the Voice party, naturally want a double-digit result," Tomas stated. He pointed out that a poll published by JOJ put the party's support at 8.6 percent, but said its ratings has changed since January. According to him, two established polls by the Focus agency put support at around 9 percent. He said some media outlets were creating a distorted picture by suggesting that Voice-SD was losing support. Commenting on the political project launched by independent MP Tomas Taraba, the minister said Voice-SD was ready to compete with all political parties, both within the governing coalition and in the opposition. Asked about regional Voice-SD representative Peter Slisko's decision to join Taraba's project, Tomas said he had no choice but to respect it. "I must admit I do not understand this move. We have to respect it, though," he noted. BRATISLAVA - The governing coalition is aware that some legislative proposals may fail to pass once Parliament has approved next year's state budget, Andrej Danko, leader of the coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS), stated on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday. "Things are always tight, even when you have 78 MPs. Some MP might make a mistake, but that doesn't matter; we'll simply vote again. Some bills pass, others do not," Danko said. He also addressed the possibility of abolishing the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization, saying he had no objection to the move and underlining the need to cut state expenditure. Asked whether scrapping the ministry could threaten the coalition's stability, given that minister Samuel Migal and deputy minister Radomir Salitros would return to Parliament, Danko said the coalition was aware that "some bills will not pass once the budget has been approved". Opposition's Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader and MP Branislav Groehling, Danko's opposite number, said he has long advocated streamlining the state administration. "There should be fewer ministries, fewer state employees and fewer institutions, because the state should be much leaner than it is now," he said, arguing that this would free up substantial financial resources. Groehling dismissed the coalition's statements about potentially abolishing the ministry as a mere pre-election tactic. However, he said that if the coalition submitted such a proposal, his party would seek to include other ministries as well, including the Sports Ministry, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the Recovery Plan. ko