What Slovakia is writing about: Prosecutor Kysel removed from the case. Fico hosted the V4, polls report a close race

First Deputy Prosecutor General Jozef Kandera removed prosecutor Peter Kysel from the case involving former Slovak Intelligence Service chief Vladimír Pčolinský a week ago — a commentary in Štandard calls the move necessary Štandard ↗, while Denník N, in its daily corruption roundup, recalls why the impartiality of the decision cannot be taken for granted Denník N ↗. On Thursday, Bratislava hosted a summit of the V4 prime ministers and Ireland, and after the meeting Fico declared that “the four are alive again” and that the leaders want to push jointly for lower electricity prices ta3 ↗. A budget dispute is also quietly running beneath both stories: the Council for Budget Responsibility reminded the government of its constitutional duty to submit a balanced budget just as confidence among industrialists is falling sharply Štandard ↗.

The Pčolinský case: two interpretations of the same move

The decision came shortly after the magazine Plus 7 dní published an official record of the first testimony by cooperating defendant Boris Beňa — the document shows that Beňa confessed to the bribe before mentioning Pčolinský’s name for the first time. According to a commentary in Štandard, First Deputy Prosecutor General Jozef Kandera then removed the case involving former SIS chief Pčolinský from prosecutor Peter Kysel. The commentary’s author defends the move as procedurally sound and recalls that the Specialized Criminal Court acquitted Pčolinský last year for lack of evidence, although the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the appeal Štandard ↗. At the same time, Denník N’s daily corruption roundup recalls why part of the public questions the prosecutor general’s impartiality in the case: when Žilinka was seeking the post of prosecutor general, the paper says he phoned Pčolinský’s brother Peter so that the Sme rodina party would nominate him as a candidate, while investigator Ján Čurilla testified about how police obtained evidence of links between Žilinka and Pčolinský Denník N ↗. The two interpretations thus stand side by side — one speaks of a legitimate procedural step against a prosecutor whose conduct may have raised suspicions of abuse of power, the other of a case that still has to earn the public’s trust.

The V4 returns to Bratislava: Fico promises cheaper electricity

Bratislava Castle hosted a summit on Thursday of the V4 prime ministers, with Slovakia currently holding the presidency, and, for the first time in twenty-two years, of Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin SITA ↗. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke about restoring the V4’s strength and prestige and noted that since he took office, the number of illegal migrant crossings in eastern Poland had fallen from twenty thousand to zero; he also warned that V4 states pay the highest energy prices in the world and that Poland would block proposals that would push them higher Nový Čas ↗. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar supported stricter border protection and complained that the European Commission fines Hungary a million euros a day for guarding its borders, while other states receive subsidies for migration Nový Čas ↗. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called for a postponement of the planned ETS2 emissions system, saying that “ETS1 is destroying industry and ETS2 will destroy the lives of European citizens” Nový Čas ↗. After the meeting, Fico summed up that “the four are alive again” ta3 ↗, identified lower electricity prices as the V4’s key shared issue, and said he wanted to invite German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron to the next meeting Nový Čas ↗. Hospodárske noviny added that the V4 had also agreed on joint demands for the Union’s next budget Hospodárske noviny ↗.

SNS waits until Tuesday, polls report a close race

According to Denník N, Prime Minister Fico promised the Slovak National Party that no later than Tuesday, 15 September, he would send the president a proposal to dismiss Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba; SNS is not insisting that the replacement itself take place by then, only that the proposal be delivered Denník N ↗. SNS parliamentary group chairman Roman Michelko admits that if President Peter Pellegrini delayed signing — SNS speaks of ten days — the party would try to remove Taraba through parliament, even though this would breach the coalition agreement, since the opposition has already submitted a similar dismissal proposal. SNS continues to insist that Taraba should be replaced by State Secretary Filip Kuffa, although the president recently suggested that there were more suitable candidates Postoj ↗.

Two independent September polls also feed into this dynamic. According to NMS, Milan Uhrík’s extra-parliamentary Republika rose 2.3 percentage points month on month to 15.6 percent and now trails the governing Smer by only six-tenths — analyst Mikuláš Hanes attributes the increase to disappointed Smer and SNS voters and the approaching regional elections SME ↗. In the same week, Focus (fieldwork conducted from 1 to 7 September for the 360tka website) found an even tighter race at the top: Smer-SD and Progressive Slovakia were tied at 17.3 percent, with both parties slightly down on June. Republika would come third with 12.4 percent, and eight parties would enter parliament, including coalition Hlas on 8.4 percent — coalition SNS, with four percent, would remain outside STVR ↗. Aktuality.sk described it as an exceptionally tough battle for first place Aktuality ↗, while Pravda added that the Democrats had reached exactly the five-percent threshold needed to enter parliament for the first time Pravda ↗. Uhrík himself is now distancing himself from Smer: “We no longer trust Smer; we are not their lackeys,” he told Aktuality.sk Aktuality ↗.

Lex Para: opposition seeks to bar the prime minister’s adviser from defending clients

Progressive Slovakia submitted to parliament an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure that would prevent lawyer Marek Para from defending defendants in the Očistec case — including Deputy Speaker Tibor Gašpar, Norbert Bödör and three other former police officers. The stated reason is a conflict of interest, since Para also serves as an adviser to Prime Minister Robert Fico; PS MP Zuzana Mesterová asks what advice such an adviser gives the prime minister on anti-corruption policy SME ↗. Public television adds that the proposal would affect lawyers involved in the exercise of public authority who simultaneously defend clients in cases involving corruption, abuse of office or the laundering of proceeds of crime STVR ↗. If the National Council approved the amendment, the defendants concerned would lose their lawyer from April next year. The proposal, known in newsrooms by the shorthand Lex Para, is also criticized by the Slovak Bar Association, which warns that it would seriously violate defendants’ right to a defense and restrict the practice of law. PS MPs nevertheless maintain that the aim is justified and want to pursue it after the election as well, since the proposal has little chance of passing in the current parliament SME ↗.

State finances: budget council warns as industry runs out of steam

The Office of the Council for Budget Responsibility reminded the government that its constitutional duty is to submit a balanced or surplus budget for 2027 to 2029. According to the council, Slovakia’s public debt reached 61.4 percent of GDP at the end of 2025, approximately 90 billion euros, and without further consolidation it is expected to rise to as much as 74 percent of GDP by 2029; it is expected to approach 100 billion euros as early as 2027. The government has gradually raised its deficit target for 2027 from three to 3.5 and finally to 4.2 percent of GDP, while the council says concrete measures worth 1.2 billion euros are still missing to meet it Štandard ↗. “Inconsistent application of constitutional principles was one of the main causes of the deterioration in public finances,” said RRZ chairman Ján Tóth Štandard ↗.

The structure of the economy also illustrates the reality behind the figures. Industrial confidence plunged by 17 points in August, while confidence in services rose by more than eight points — the largest gap between the two sectors since January 2023; real industrial sales fell by 2.3 percent in the first half of the year, whereas information and communications grew by almost 11 percent Trend ↗. According to Denník N’s daily economic roundup, mortgages are also heading toward four percent and gas has tripled in price Denník N ↗. The dispute over the transaction tax fits the same picture: banks have already introduced it into the system, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický long rejected abolishing it, and when Fico eventually tasked him with preparing its abolition from 2027, the prime minister himself questioned a month later in a video blog whether that was a good idea Trend ↗. Former prime minister and current MEP for opposition Progressive Slovakia Ľudovít Ódor calls the tax “one of the worst taxes you could possibly devise” — in his view, it taxes neither profit nor consumption, but the movement of money itself SME ↗.

Under the radar

The heads of the self-governing regions agreed in Modra, under the leadership of Bratislava regional governor Juraj Droba, that financing social services after the reform and support for energy management require systemic rather than provisional solutions SITA ↗.

Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok lost another court case against the group known as the Čurilla group — the court annulled the transfer of police officer Juraj Svítok, who is to return to the leadership of the inspection service STVR ↗. Denník SME recalls that this is already the second lost case on the matter SME ↗.

Parliamentary Speaker Richard Raši called on the opposition to support a constitutional amendment allowing the electoral term to be shortened by referendum — he says a referendum must be a genuine tool of democracy and people should be able to remove a government that has disappointed them, but the amendment also requires opposition votes SITA ↗.

Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár held talks on migration and sanctions against Russia during a working visit to Malta and announced that Malta’s president, Myriam Spiteri Debono, would visit Slovakia next year Hospodárske noviny ↗.

A blog on SME recalls an older but still unfulfilled promise: in 2018, Mayor Matúš Vallo spoke of camping outside the ministry over the Vrakuňa landfill, but eight years later it still smells SME Blogy ↗.

What hotinfo is watching

• By Tuesday (15 September): whether Prime Minister Fico really sends the president a proposal to dismiss Minister Taraba, and how President Pellegrini responds.
• The Pčolinský case: how the investigation into links between Prosecutor General Žilinka and the former SIS chief develops after investigator Čurilla’s testimony, and when the Supreme Court will rule on the appeal in the main case.
• The NMS and Focus polls: whether Republika’s growing support and the close race between Smer and Progressive Slovakia will last in the coming months before the autumn regional elections, or whether this was a one-off fluctuation.
• Lex Para in plenary: whether PS’s proposal to bar lawyer Marek Para from defending clients in the Očistec case makes it at least to the second reading, or remains merely a pre-election gesture.
• The 2027–2029 budget: what concrete plan the government will use to substantiate its promised balanced budget, and what will happen to the transaction tax after 2027, when the prime minister himself publicly questioned it.