SUMMARY - Thursday, February 13, 2025 - 9 p.m.

Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - A fundamental issue that remains to be seen is what kind of role, if any, will the European Union play in the peacemaking process in Ukraine, President Peter Pellegrini declared on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/21739513 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - Slovak national parks will have €22.9 million available for the development of tourism, environmental education and biodiversity improvement as the Environment Ministry has signed an agreement with Switzerland in this regard, the ministry's communications department told TASR on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/21738972 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - In response to US President Donald Trump's phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) and Progressive Slovakia (PS) parties claim that Ukraine can't be left out of the peace talks. https://etasr.sk/article/21739351 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - An extraordinary parliamentary session with a no-confidence motion in Environment Minister Tomas Taraba is set to start on Tuesday (February 18) at 10 a.m., the Parliament Office's communications department told TASR on Thursday, adding that the session will be followed by another special meeting with a no-confidence motion in Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (both Slovak National Party/SNS nominees) that is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. https://etasr.sk/article/21739213 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - The growth of the Slovak economy will slow down slightly to 1.9 percent this year from 2 percent last year, with incentives to the economy being expected to come mainly from the anticipated faster absorption of the recovery plan of over €2 billion and from domestic demand, according to the current macroeconomic forecast published by the Budgetary Responsibility Council (RRZ) on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/21739498 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - The bill to change investments in the second pension pillar shouldn't be allowed to become the source of financing of consolidation measures, with opposition lawmakers Marian Viskupic and Martina Bajo Holeckova (SaS) warning that the money in the second pillar doesn't belong to the government but is the private savings of almost two million policy-holders who save money for their own retirement pensions and hence the state has no right to touch it. https://etasr.sk/article/21739336 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - I welcome the initiative of US President Donald Trump to start peace negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) said in a statement in response to Trump's phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. https://etasr.sk/article/21739037 Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) unveiled its proposals to amend the Constitution, the most cardinal of which is to anchor into the Constitution clearly that issues of culture and ethics must be decided at the national and not the EU level, representatives of KDH announced at a press conference on Thursday. https://etasr.sk/article/21738924 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. am