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WELCOME TO TODAY IN SLOVAKIA — a look back at the news from Wednesday, 21 October.
In today’s digest:
The man PM Robert Fico can’t promote, but can’t easily sack.
Bratislava’s foreign voters aren’t holding back.
Ten reasons to get out in Bratislava.
THE HEAD-SCRATCHER: How many votes does it take to become a mayor? In more than a third of Slovakia’s nearly 3,000 municipalities, just one could theoretically do the trick. According to Denník N, 1,014 candidates are running unopposed in Saturday’s local elections. Among them is Martin Zaťovič, the incumbent mayor of Bratislava’s Dúbravka district, home to more than 35,000 people. In at least seven villages, nobody is running. Political scientist Michal Cirner told Hospodárske noviny that some villages resemble “hereditary monarchies”, where the mayor’s job passes from father to son or grandfather to grandson. But as local government expert Ján Buček points out, the lack of competition can mean people are happy with their mayor – or have given up on the prospect of change.
If you like what we’re doing and want to support quality journalism, please consider taking out an ad-free online subscription. Thank you – and welcome once again to Today in Slovakia.
President blocks SNS minister pick
Deputy Environment Minister Filip Kuffa (l) and President Peter Pellegrini (r). (source: TASR)
President Peter Pellegrini has asked Prime Minister Robert Fico to find another environment minister after warning that Filip Kuffa, the candidate nominated by the coalition’s Slovak National Party (SNS), could eventually face criminal charges.
WHAT POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING: Pellegrini said on Wednesday that information obtained from intelligence services and police had confirmed an investigation into suspected wrongdoing involving an organisation under the Environment Ministry.
Police are investigating possible manipulation of public procurement, mismanagement of property, money laundering and abuse of public office. The president did not identify the case or say that Kuffa was personally under investigation. He warned, however, that he could not rule out Kuffa eventually being charged in connection with the suspected offences.
According to SME, the investigation may link to controversial timber-harvesting contracts in national parks, an area Kuffa oversaw as state secretary. Two companies, TER-wood and MSGW, won contracts worth millions of euros in Muránska planina and Veľká Fatra national parks. Opposition party Demokrati has questioned the prices paid, estimating that the state lost around €500,000 in Muránska planina alone. The companies are linked through another business, and Demokrati has published a photograph which it says shows Kuffa with a businessman connected to them.
Police confirmed to SME that their anti-corruption unit was investigating suspected offences, but declined to say whether the case involved Kuffa or whether anyone had been charged. The president has not confirmed that the investigation he referred to concerns these particular contracts.
“I am not a judge,” Pellegrini said, acknowledging the presumption of innocence. But he argued that the standards expected of government ministers go beyond whether someone has been convicted of a crime.
Kuffa is already a state secretary, roughly equivalent to a deputy minister, at the Environment Ministry. SNS wants him to replace Tomáš Taraba, who was removed as minister in September after months of feuding with party chairman Andrej Danko.
Since Taraba’s departure, Kuffa has taken an active role in running the ministry. He has ordered an audit, halted the sale of a state-owned hotel, and dismissed several senior officials his predecessor appointed, including the heads of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise and the Environmental Fund.
DANKO DIGS IN: The SNS chairman insists that his party will not withdraw Kuffa’s nomination. He argues that the president must appoint a minister proposed by the prime minister and cannot reject someone not found guilty of a crime.
Fico has acknowledged the president’s objections but stressed that the coalition agreement gives SNS the right to choose the environment minister. He is expected to discuss the dispute with Danko in the coming days.
CAN THE PRESIDENT SAY NO? Constitutional lawyer Vincent Bujňák told Denník N that presidents are generally expected to accept ministerial nominations, but a refusal can be justified in exceptional circumstances. If neither side backs down, the dispute could reach the Constitutional Court.
THE MAJORITY PROBLEM: The opposition wants Kuffa removed from his current job as well. Former minister Taraba, now at odds with SNS, has joined those questioning why someone considered unsuitable for a cabinet position should keep helping run the same ministry.
But dismissing Kuffa could have consequences beyond the Environment Ministry.
Filip Kuffa and his father, Štefan, also a state secretary at the ministry, were both elected to parliament. Substitutes currently hold their parliamentary seats while they serve in government.
If they leave their government posts, they could return to parliament. Their return would not automatically cost Fico his majority, but if they broke with SNS and stopped supporting the coalition, the government could lose its already narrow parliamentary majority.
Danko has acknowledged the political calculations behind the nomination, saying SNS must consider its parliamentary group’s stability.
Catch up with The Slovak Spectator
In Bratislava, foreign residents have a vote – and plenty of opinions
Estonia and Romania fight disinformation actors, Slovakia funds them
Also happening
Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer has nearly caught up with the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) in the latest Ipsos poll. PS leads with 18.6 percent, against Smer’s 18.4 percent, a gap too small to establish which party is ahead. The three governing parties have a combined 27 percent, while four opposition parties – PS, SaS, KDH and Demokrati – would win just 69 of parliament’s 150 seats, leaving them dependent on Igor Matovič’s Slovensko movement to secure a majority.
Slovakia’s state railway operator ZSSK and the Interior Ministry took their websites offline on Wednesday following a warning about two critical security flaws in PHP, a programming language widely used by websites. The vulnerabilities could allow hackers to run malicious code remotely without logging in. The National Cyber Security Centre (SK-CERT) urged organisations to install security updates and isolate vulnerable systems until they could be secured.
The Culture Ministry is considering a campaign to promote The Bloody Sonnets, an English translation of poems by Slovak writer Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, among secondary school students. The plans include an event with Irish poet John Minahane, whose translation was published in 2018, as part of activities marking 150 years since Hviezdoslav first adopted his pen name in 2027. The campaign, proposed at a government meeting in Dubové, will depend on funding.
Joint police inspections on the Danube uncovered safety breaches aboard passenger vessels in Bratislava, including one captain operating without the required permit. Officers from Slovakia, Germany, Austria and Hungary took part in the checks from 12 to 16 October, despite low water levels that had halted navigation. Inspectors also found problems with wastewater disposal and referred the violations to the relevant authorities. (TASR)
President Peter Pellegrini has appointed Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová as deputy prime minister at Prime Minister Robert Fico’s request. The Presidential Palace said Fico had the authority to nominate an existing cabinet member for the post. The appointment restores the Slovak National Party’s (SNS) representation among deputy prime ministers, as required by the coalition agreement, following Tomáš Taraba’s dismissal from the role.
The government’s meeting in the village of Dubové, Turčianske Teplice district, on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. (source: TASR)
Police found hundreds of violations during a two-week nationwide crackdown on taxis, checking 3,354 vehicles. Officers recorded 424 traffic offences, including speeding and using phones while driving, while labour inspectors identified 47 suspected cases of illegal employment or undeclared work. In Trebišov, eastern Slovakia, police also caught a taxi driver over the drink-driving limit while he was on his way to collect a passenger. (TASR)
The number of people working more than one job has nearly doubled in five years, reaching 44,700 in 2025, according to Eurostat. The trend is also visible across the EU, where 8.2 million people held multiple jobs last year, up from 7.5 million in 2020. Italy is an exception, with the number of people holding more than one job falling by roughly half over the same period.
Swedish-made CV9035 MkIV infantry fighting vehicles ordered for the Slovak army have passed mobility tests, with live-fire trials next. Manufacturer BAE Systems Hägglunds says the vehicles met all requirements during tests involving steep slopes, ditches and high-speed driving. Slovakia has ordered 152 vehicles, built with the involvement of Slovak companies, and could receive the first deliveries before the end of 2026. (TASR)
Slovak students and researchers could gain access to internships, exchanges and nuclear training facilities in France under a new agreement with the French-based International Institute of Nuclear Energy (I2EN). The Education Ministry says the five-year partnership will help train specialists for the nuclear industry, from power plant operations to radioactive waste management. The agreement also opens the door to joint research projects and university programmes offering dual degrees, though specific projects have yet to be agreed.
The tender for the last missing stretch of the D1 highway between Bratislava and Košice can move forward after a bidder withdrew its objections. The public procurement watchdog closed its review on Wednesday, though the deadline for bidders to apply remains 19 November after five postponements. The Turany–Hubová section is expected to cost €1.57 billion before VAT, and an earlier tender was cancelled over procurement rule breaches. (TASR)
Thursday, 22 October - what to expect
CERN Director-General Mark Thomson visits the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
An election moratorium has begun and will remain in place until voting ends on Saturday.
The European Parliament announces the winner or winners of the 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
CLOCKS GO BACK ON SUNDAY: At 03:00, clocks move back to 02:00 as daylight saving time ends, giving us an extra hour of sleep.
DATES TO REMEMBER: 24 October – local and regional elections; 4-5 November – V4 presidents’ summit in Trenčín, joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; 5 November - Fico’s government will hold joint talks with its Ukrainian counterpart in Lviv.
Thursday’s weather: Rain easing in the afternoon, snow above 1,500 metres. Highs of 9–15°C.
Name day on 22 October: Sergej.
OFF THE CLOCK
LECTURE: Pluto: The Fascinating World That Is No Longer a Planet: Astronomy lecture by Peter Bartek marking 20 years since Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, at Comenius University’s Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics in Mlynská dolina, Bratislava. The lecture is in Slovak. 18:00, Thursday.
FILM: Good Boy: English-language thriller directed by Jan Komasa, starring Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough, at Kino Lumière in Bratislava. Tickets €7. 20:40, Thursday.
DO YOU KNOW SLOVAKIA?
Answer to Wednesday’s question: Viliam Žingor. His hiding place in the Western Tatras was exposed after a midwife’s daughter let slip information about his whereabouts.
Today’s question: On 22 October 1915, Czech and Slovak representatives signed an agreement in which US city calling for a common independent state for Czechs and Slovaks?
Check out Thursday’s digest for the answer.
That’s a wrap on day 294 of 2026. Thanks for reading The Slovak Spectator.
If you have suggestions on how our news digest can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk or at peter.dlhopolec@spectator.sk