MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Friday, 23 October 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Thursday, 22 October): BRATISLAVA - Cooperation with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an excellent opportunity for Slovak scientists as well as industry, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) when meeting CERN Director-General Mark Thomson at the Government Office in Bratislava on Thursday, TASR has learnt from the Government Office's press and information department. At the meeting, Slovakia was represented by Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD), who also serves as Acting Vice-premier for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy, Government Proxy for Nuclear Energy Peter Liska, and head of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) Martin Venhart. According to Fico, it's important that Slovakia's membership of CERN should bring tangible opportunities not only for Slovak research facilities, but also for industry, while enabling research outcomes to be applied in practice. "I consider the visit by the director-general of CERN, the most important international organisation in research into elementary particles and the structure of matter, to be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the level and potential of Slovak science and research, as well as industrial development. Slovak scientists are also involved in CERN's scientific activities and experiments, with several working in Geneva itself," added Fico. BRATISLAVA - Environment Ministry State Secretary Filip Kuffa has said that he was surprised by how harsh the remarks directed at him by President Peter Pellegrini were. Kuffa was responding to Pellegrini's decision that Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) should put forward a new candidate for the post of environment minister. Kuffa is the Slovak National Party's (SNS) nominee for the post. "I was surprised myself by those opening minutes - by how harshly he spoke about me - linking me to actions that I have nothing to do with simply based on some news report. Although he said about 10 to 15 minutes later that this didn't mean that he wouldn't appoint me, from my perspective, the message came across as quite negatively," posted Kuffa on social media. BRATISLAVA/MARTIN - An investigator from the anti-corruption unit of the Office for Combating Organised Crime (UBOK) has charged two men and one woman with electoral corruption committed jointly, Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Roman Hajek told TASR on Thursday. The case concerns suspected vote-buying with respect to the upcoming municipal election in Martin (Zilina region). According to the findings so far, the two men allegedly approached a candidate for mayor of Martin (Zilina region) and offered to secure the votes of 300 to 500 voters from the Roma community living in various parts of the town in exchange for financial rewards. They reportedly demanded €5,000 for this, as well as a promise of future municipal contracts if the candidate won the election. "The candidate reported the offer to the police and then actively co-operated in clarifying and documenting the case. The police appreciate his responsible approach and assistance in uncovering suspected unlawful conduct," said Hajek. BRATISLAVA - At the request of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Bratislava, searches and investigative measures were conducted in Slovakia on Tuesday (20 October) and Wednesday (21 October) in an investigation into a suspected customs fraud scheme to import textiles and footwear from China involving public officials, TASR has reported, citing an EPPO statement issued on Thursday. Searches and inspections were carried out at the premises of import companies, customs representatives and transport companies in Slovakia. Five customs officers were also questioned. At least 50 suspects are under investigation. The EPPO has on its radar an organised criminal group involving several importing companies, carriers and customs representatives that set up and operated a fraudulent scheme in which large quantities of goods were smuggled from China into the EU by abusing Customs Procedure 42 (CP42). This procedure, created to simplify cross-border trade, exempts importers from paying VAT in the country of importation if the imported goods are subsequently transported to another EU-member state. The tax must then be paid upon release of the goods. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini has signed an amendment to the Act on Public Administration Budgetary Rules, which is aimed at reducing the administrative burden on state entities and local governments while easing strict rules for the state when operating under a provisional budget, the President's Office told TASR on Thursday, adding that the president found no conflict with the Slovak Constitution. According to the Finance Ministry, practical experience has shown that requiring the government or the Finance Ministry to approve all adjustments to public expenditure ceilings poses an excessive administrative burden. Therefore, selected adjustments not affecting the overall public expenditure ceiling will no longer need to be approved; they will instead be made directly in the ministry's information system. "The Finance Ministry's information system is designed to flag up cases in which individual general government entities and budget chapters fail to comply with the ceilings," said the ministry. TALE - Slovakia is once again considering interconnecting its oil-pipeline network with the Schwechat refinery in Austria, said Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) in her address during the opening ceremony of the 20th Energoforum 2026 conference on energy held in Tale (Banska Bystrica region) on Thursday. Sakova added that the best option would be to finance the project using European funds. She also mentioned the possibility of building oil-storage facilities in western Slovakia, as well as a reverse flow of oil from the Czech Republic. According to Sakova, the European Commission (EC) no longer wants to fund projects involving fossil fuels. "We're trying to get an exemption so that Slovakia can still receive some funding under some package dedicated to energy. This would allow us to build oil-storage facilities in the western part of the country, connect the pipelines between the Schwechat refinery and the Slovak refinery, and potentially also set up a reverse flow of oil that we're currently testing with the Czech Republic, so that we could cover all these costs from European funds," explained Sakova. ko