MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, April 27, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, April 26): Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - Parliamentary Vice-chair Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) has received a two-year driving ban following his traffic accident in the Bratislava borough of Dubravka in January and will have to pay a fine as well. "I won't drive for two years, and I will pay a fine," said Danko on Friday while sweeping the streets in Dubravka, a voluntarily activity that he's taken up in connection with the accident. Danko said that he's already paid for the traffic light that he damaged. He denied that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and stated that in the afternoon he'll publish evidence that he left the scene of the accident because of a broken tooth. He doesn't object to camera footage from the accident being published. Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - The Regional Directorate of the Police Corps in Bratislava posted on Friday afternoon a video on a social network with a description "traffic accident as of January 11, 2024 in the Bratislava borough of Dubravka", which was the day when Parliamentary Vice-chair Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) had his traffic accident in Dubravka. In response to questions about Danko's sentence, the police said they don't comment on specific individuals or legal entities, but provide information on specific cases. MP Roman Mikulec and former interior minister (Slovakia party, KU, For the People) stated that if ordinary people had behaved like Danko, they would have been punished much more. He also pointed to incumbent Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok's (Voice-SD) promise to publish the videos within a week of the accident. "Until today we've only seen the one in which we haven't actually seen anything," he added. Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) is criticising the decision of the Health Ministry to rebuild the hospital in the Bratislava borough of Ruzinov instead of building a university hospital in Bratislava's Razsochy and to build a children's hospital in Razsochy, TASR learnt on Friday. The party considers this to be an unprofessional decision with negative consequences for patients. It has therefore started collecting signatures to convene an extraordinary session of parliament to oust Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD). "We don't know anything about the new hospital in Ruzinov. This project will start completely from scratch, with only part of the project documentation from Razsochy, while the hospital in Ruzinov doesn't even have enough land for the construction of a new hospital," noted KDH MP Frantisek Majersky, adding that the hospital in Razsochy had the basic prerequisites to start construction in the near future, while the study of the Health Ministry envisages the completion of the hospital in Ruzinov only in 2038. "Failure to proceed with the Razsochy project will result in damage in tens of millions of euros that have so far been spent on this hospital, which is the cost of one district hospital," pointed out KDH. Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD) wants to present the entire project of a university hospital in Bratislava to the public after it is approved by the government, rejecting the distortion of facts in connection with the project and the change of decision in the construction of Razsochy hospital, for which the opposition KDH wants to oust her from her post. "It's sad if opposition politics turns into a mere political tabloid. KDH representatives are conspiring without real facts in connection with the topic of Razsochy hospital, to base a no-confidence vote in a minister on conspiracies is proof of a desperate move by its initiators," stated Dolinkova. Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - Money from the recovery plan could be the impetus for major modernisation programmes for a period of ten years, said Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) following his working meeting with Vice-premier for the Recovery and Resilience Plan and EU Funds Use Peter Kmec (Voice-SD) on Friday. Fico added that this is a unique opportunity to put €6.4 billion into circulation. With the fourth application for payment from the recovery plan, Slovakia is approaching almost half of the allocation intended for it. "This is a unique opportunity to put €6.4 billion into circulation in the areas we need to get going: education, health care, the environment, for which we simply don't have money in the state budget. This money from the recovery plan could be the impetus for major modernisation projects for a period of ten years that we still haven't agreed on," said the premier. Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - Six representatives of the judiciary have proposed Marcela Kosova for the post of Judicial Council chair, council members Dana Jelinkova Dudzikova and Ayse Pruzinec Eren have told TASR, adding that they've suggested May 14 as the date of the election. "We believe that there must be a person at the helm of the Judicial Council who will restore its apolitical character," said the judges. The proposal was submitted on April 25 by six judges serving at the Kosice, Presov and Bratislava regional courts, the Bratislava-based Administrative Court and the Supreme Court. am