MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, November 13): BRATISLAVA - Following Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) recent visit to China and the plan to develop a strategic partnership between Bratislava and Beijing, several government members have been given more than 20 tasks for 2025, which the government approved along with their deadlines on Wednesday. The Foreign Affairs Ministry underlined that the two great accomplishments of the visit to China are the scrapping of the requirement for Slovak citizens who plan to stay in China for less than 15 days to obtain visas as well as confirmation of a large Chinese investment in the building of an electric car-battery facility in Surany. BRATISLAVA - The Interior Ministry's Inspectorate (UIS) is investigating a case in which a Kosice police officer has been accused of manslaughter, TASR learnt on Wednesday. The Interior Ministry will analyse where the problem occurred. "If an individual or a supervisor fails, you can count on those responsible being held accountable," declared Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) before Wednesday's cabinet meeting, adding that he will be uncompromising. According to Sutaj Estok, the psychological tests for admission to the Police Corps are thorough and stringent, serving as a sufficient criterion for determining whether a person is qualified to join the force. However, the minister added that unplanned and irregular testing for officers during their service might be considered. In this regard, the minister stated that a body-camera project for police officers has been speeded up, and a pilot programme could potentially be launched on December 1. It will probably be deployed in the eastern part of Slovakia. KOSICE - The Kosice police officer who was charged with manslaughter earlier this week will be prosecuted in custody, Kosice Municipal Court ruled on Wednesday, upholding a motion filed by the prosecutor in the case. The prosecutor told the media that the officer filed an immediate appeal against the decision, explaining that the motion to remand the man in custody was filed because of concerns that he might influence witnesses or otherwise obstruct the investigation. According to the Interior Ministry's Inspectorate (UIS), which pressed the charges in the case, the officer in question, while on duty in early November, inflicted multiple injuries to the head and body of a man suspected of stealing alcohol from a hypermarket in Kosice. If found guilty, the officer might be sentenced to 12-15 years in prison. KOSICE - The Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is planning to contact its opposition partners to discuss the position of Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) and consider whether to proceed with a no-confidence motion in him, stated SaS head Branislav Groehling on Wednesday, in relation to the case of a Kosice police officer who's been charged with manslaughter. He criticised the entire year of Sutaj Estok's tenure as minister, claiming that the minister's behaviour sends a signal that bullying, aggressive behaviour, and abuse of power are acceptable. "I will be contacting our opposition partners to discuss the future of Minister Sutaj Estok in this government and whether we should proceed with a motion to dismiss him. It is also a question for the government: Do they believe the events of the past months are acceptable? They should consider dismissing the minister," he added. BRATISLAVA - A new draft proposal to modify the criteria for selecting investment partners for constructing state-supported rental housing was approved by the government on Wednesday. The draft proposal modifies and expands the criteria approved at the end of January of last year to include additional eligible entities when it comes to applying for the position of investment partner. The draft criteria were submitted by the Transport Ministry. Those allowed to invest in the construction of public rental housing must be interested parties registered in an EU-member state, in a state that is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or in Switzerland. Investors must have been engaged in the rental housing business for at least ten years and own, or have owned, at least 1,000 dwellings used for rental housing. Investors must not be in debt to Slovakia or to the member state in which they are registered. In addition, members of the statutory body, the supervisory board and the senior staff of an investor must be professionally competent and credible. Those interested in investing in state-owned rental housing must transparently disclose their financial results and have held equity of at least €100 million over the past three years. BRATISLAVA - The state will provide €20 million for the construction of a multi-purpose Olympic arena set to expand the existing Olympic training centre in Samorin (Trnava region), the government decided at its session on Wednesday. The contribution will be paid by the end of the year under the contract for supporting a national sports project concluded between the Tourism and Sport Ministry and a company called Olympic Arena, founded by the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee. The aim is to build the arena near the multi-purpose X-Bionic Sphere sports facility. It should meet the highest standards of FIBA (basketball), FIVB (volleyball), IHF (handball), ITF (tennis) and IFF (floorball) in order to allow for the organisation of international sporting events in synergy with X-Bionic Sphere. "The Olympic Arena will have an overall capacity of 5,000 spectators," added the Sport Ministry. zel