MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, November 20): BRATISLAVA - MPs from the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) parties are initiating a no-confidence motion in Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD), said SaS MP Juraj Krupa and PS leader Michal Simecka at a press conference on Wednesday. The MPs want to submit the motion this week. They criticise Sutaj Estok for the current state of the Police Corps and his failure to address bomb threats at schools. They also accuse him of bullying investigators and spreading hoaxes. "Matus Sutaj Estok is 'bad' for our country. He is bad for the safety of our people. I am absolutely sure that we can have an interior minister and a government that genuinely cares about the safety of our people, but with Matus Sutaj Estok in the executive, that won't happen," stated Simecka. BRATISLAVA - The permission given by US President Joe Biden to Ukraine to strike targets in Russia with long-range missiles is seen by Slovak diplomacy as another escalation of the conflict, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar stated during his visit to Liechtenstein on Wednesday, TASR learnt from its correspondent on the same day. "We're absolutely against such an escalation on the part of the outgoing US administration," declared the minister. According to Blanar, the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump claims that it plans to do its utmost to secure peace in Ukraine. Because of this, Blanar perceives the green light for missile strikes on Russian soil as an effort to "place obstacles in the way of the future US administration". BRATISLAVA - Answering media questions ahead of the government session on Wednesday, Investment Minister Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) said that the demands of Independent MPs Rudolf Huliak, Pavel Luptak and Ivan Sefcik, a trio who recently left the Slovak National Party (SNS) caucus and have now started demanding charge of the Environment Ministry, are a problem for SNS and so must be dealt with by SNS leader Andrej Danko. "As far as I know, these gentlemen want one of the ministries that is under the management of SNS, which is why it is Andrej Danko's affair. The Voice-SD party is not interested in transferring any of its ministries," said Rasi. According to media reports, the three MPs met Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Tuesday, but the meeting didn't lead to any agreement. Fico took note of the demands of the trio, declaring that it was his task to find a way for the coalition to cooperate with these MPs, who had previously declared that they didn't want to cause the collapse of the incumbent government. BRATISLAVA - The procurement of air-defence systems should be concluded by the end of the first week of December, said Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) at a press conference following the government session on Wednesday. According to the minister, the contract for the systems has already been signed, but the technical details of the deal are being finalised. "For instance, each unit, each battery, has its own control centre and has its own power drive unit. According to the contract, it's been agreed that we want this to be produced in Slovakia. The other side claims that it can produce it more cheaply if it isn't produced in Slovakia. This means that, okay, it may be reflected in the price, but then we have to bring another part of the production to Slovakia in order to maintain the [output] of Slovak production," explained Kalinak. BRATISLAVA - President Peter Pellegrini has joined the sixth annual campaign against violence against women. Together with ministers and representatives of diplomatic missions in Slovakia, he took part in a photo shooting with the 'Orange the World' banner, symbolising the campaign entitled 'Let's stop Violence Against Women', the President's Office informed TASR on Wednesday. At the same time, the head of state stressed that he rejects any form of violence. "I reject any form of violence, including violence against women and girls. We must send a clear signal that such expressions cannot be tolerated and, therefore, I would like to support activities aimed at suppressing and condemning them," said the president. BRATISLAVA - The Supreme Administrative Court's (NSS) senate on Wednesday imposed a disciplinary punishment in the form of a 50-percent salary reduction for a period of three months on judge Juraj Kliment for a physical attack on another judge in public. The Judicial Council of the Supreme Court demanded Kliment's disciplinary punishment in the form of moving him to a lower court, or a reduction of salary by 50 percent for a period of one year. Meanwhile, Kliment requested disciplinary charges against him be dropped. He argued that that his action wasn't a disciplinary offence. He also claimed that the deed didn't happen as described in the disciplinary proposal. lin/zel