SUMMARY - Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 9 p.m.

Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - The state budget reached a deficit of €3.2 billion in April 2024, amounting to a year-on-year increase of €1.005 billion or 45.8 percent, the Finance Ministry reported on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/20658480 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - Several thousand people gathered at the Bratislava Freedom Square on Thursday to protest against upcoming changes to public RTVS broadcaster and the second pension pillar. https://etasr.sk/article/20658401 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) blasted the postponing of the election of a Constitutional Court judge in Parliament as well as the ouster of Andrej Majernik and Jan Mazak as members of the Judicial Council. https://etasr.sk/article/20658400 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - Coalition lawmakers want to oust Maria Kolikova (SaS) from the helm of the House Committee for the Supervision of Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) over the way she chairs the committee but also her recent statements about the secret service and her submission of a complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office regarding the change to the SIS statutes. https://etasr.sk/article/20658254 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - The discussion on coalition candidates for the Judicial Council is set to continue, even though SNS insists on its nomination of Stefan Harabin, according to statements made by coalition lawmakers at a press conference on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/20658047 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - MP Juraj Krupa (SaS) harbours a suspicion that Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) serves the interests of foreign arms manufacturers at the expense of the Slovak ones. https://etasr.sk/article/20657920 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - If citizens would like to invest their pension savings, they can choose index or stock funds, where the interest rates are much higher than can be expected with government bonds, the extra-parliamentary 'Democrats' party said in reaction to Premier Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) intention to offer government bonds to pension savers and use the money to invest in highway construction. https://etasr.sk/article/20657879 Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - The government doesn't want to take money from people's accounts or from the second (capitalisation) pension pillar, just the opposite: it wants to help them earn more, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said during the regular "Question Time" in Parliament on Thursday when answering a question by MP Pavol Goga (Smer-SD). https://etasr.sk/article/20657785 Notice: If you click on the link or copy it into the search window, the browser will display the full text of the message in the new e-TASR client zone. If you have any questions, please contact obchod@tasr.sk. mf