1. Halted oil supplies via Ukraine 2. Developments in Slovak justice 3. Slovaks do not believe that the assassination attempt on PM was staged
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Slovakia and Hungary have jointly called for immediate action from the European Commission in connection with stopped supplies of Russian oil. At the end of June, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Lukoil, which is one of the largest Russian oil companies. As part of these sanctions, it banned any activities of Lukoil on its territory and stopped the transit of its oil to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.
The Slovak and the Hungarian Foreign Ministers requested the European Commission to investigate potential Ukrainian violations of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement regarding energy transit. Blanár criticized the Commission for delaying action, warning that oil and fuel shortages could become critical. The head of the office of the Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Gulyás, accused Kyiv of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by halting the oil transit.
According to Ukraine officials, Ukraine is ready to resolve oil transit issues with Slovakia in accordance with the EU Association Agreement. According to him, Kyiv guarantees the transit of oil for companies that are not subject to sanctions.
The European Commission has announced that oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary are not threatened by Ukrainian sanctions against Lukoil for the time being.
On the other hand, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that Slovnaft would stop supplying diesel to Ukraine if Kyiv does not resume the transit of oil from Russian Lukoil through its territory.
But according to analysts, Ukraine could cover diesel supplies from other sources as the total share of Slovakia and Hungary in diesel supplies to Ukraine is approximately 10 percent.
The Slovak PM said that he had already discussed with Ukrainian politicians a technical solution for importing oil from Russia via Ukraine. However, he has not yet shared further details.
The Council of the EU decided to initiate an excessive deficit procedure against Slovakia and six other member states, following the recommendations previously issued by the European Commission. The countries will have between four and seven years to carry out corrective actions.
An investigator of the Interior Ministry's Inspectorate has accused a total of four individuals of misusing their powers, with three of them being former investigators of the National Crime Agency and one a former prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor's Office. If found guilty, the accused individuals could be imprisoned for up to 12 years.
One of the accused investigators, a former head of the National Crime Agency considers the accusation to be purpose-built. An Anti-corruption NGO claims that the accusation is related to his work as head of the team that dealt with corruption within the police.
At the same time, the General Prosecutor's Office has stopped the prosecution of the former director of the Slovak Information Service Michal Aláč in the same case. According to Aktuality.sk news outlet, the charges against him were dropped on the basis of the controversial section 363 of the Penal Code, the Aktuality.sk portal reported. Michal Aláč was accused of founding a criminal group, abuse of power of a public official and obstruction of justice.
The Ministry of Justice has been abolished its analytical centre, leaving 27 people without jobs. Former Minister Maria Kolíková points out that the centre was also crucial for the fight against corruption. The Ministry of Justice responds that this is only an organisational change and it expects the step to bring greater efficiency. The analytical centre was funded from EU funds that expired at the end of the last year.
Justice Minister Boris Susko has filed a disciplinary motion against the judge of the Supreme Court, Juraj Kliment, and proposes his dismissal from his position as a judge. According to SME daily, three of the fourteen reasons stated by the Minister are connected with Marek Para a lawyer of the largest coalition party and counsellor of the Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Government officials called on Juraj Kliment to resign even previously, holding a couple of press conferences on the matter. At that time, the judge commented he would not be intimidated easily.
Slovak citizen Rastislav Gajdošík, who fought alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine against the Russian invasion, was killed during the fights. This was reported by the Memorial - International Volunteers for Ukraine organisation. He is likely to have died in the Donetsk region after a drone attack.
Most Slovaks do not believe that the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico was staged and that blanks were used. This is according to a survey conducted by the Ipsos agency for the independent organisation Central European Digital Media Observatory and published by daily Denník N.
The majority of respondents did not even believe the theory that the assassin had ties to Ukraine. This misinformation appeared shortly after the assassination and was soon debunked.
Czech police, in cooperation with Slovak police, have detained a man who was planning a terrorist attack on the Rainbow Pride march in Bratislava. Prior to the Bratislava Rainbow Pride festival in support of LGBT+ rights, the police discovered a group that was planning to attack the festival. Its members came from European countries, the US and Russia and were interested in attacking other minorities such as Muslims, Jews and migrants.
The rendezvous system is being launched for the emergency medical service in Slovakia as of August. A new type of ambulance will be put into operation in three Slovak cities – in Bratislava, Kosice and Žilina. The new emergency medical service ambulances should provide quicker professional medical care.
The number of Slovaks consuming alcohol has increased over the past ten years, according to the latest report by the World Health Organization. According to the report, 74 percent of Slovaks over the age of 15 drink alcohol. When compared to 2014, the number of people drinking alcohol in Slovakia has increased by 8 percent, with more men drinking than women. However, the amount of alcohol consumed by Slovaks per year has declined in recent years.
