What Slovakia is writing about: The budget heads to final vote, Kamenický refuses to resign. Matovič could lose his bodyguard detail, Fico attacks Plaváková's wedding

The 2027 budget is heading toward a final vote in parliament amid sharp opposition criticism: Finance Minister Kamenický refuses to resign or to produce balanced finances, and PM Fico frames its approval not as a matter of political prestige but of Slovakia's security and stability. The day's second thread is also security-related, but at home — Hnutie Slovensko admitted that police intervened in ten cases during its summer road show, which drew 50,000 participants, and a debate has flared up over whether the movement's leader Matovič should keep receiving a state bodyguard detail. Meanwhile, with less than two weeks to go before local elections, candidate lists are changing in Košice, Fico attacked PS MP Plaváková over her wedding, and the prosecution had three sensitive cases on its desk in a single day. Two more things have happened since: the coalition clashed over Gröhling's remarks on the 13th pension payments just before Wednesday's budget vote, and Plaváková and her wife told critics that their disapproval of the decision changes nothing.

Budget 2027: Kamenický refuses to resign, Fico talks security

Finance Minister Kamenický claims that the current constitutional act on budgetary responsibility, i.e. the debt brake, is unworkable, and he refuses both a balanced budget and a possible resignation. Hospodárske noviny ↗ Opposition MP Remišová calls the 2027 budget proposal catastrophic, describing it as a "budget of decline." TASR ↗

The dispute has even reached the Presidential Palace: Pellegrini summoned the finance minister and is demanding an explanation for the unexpected changes the coalition is hastily pushing through in the rules for provisional budget management. TA3 ↗ Provisional budget rules kick in when parliament fails to approve a new budget by year's end, and the coalition wants to loosen its hands for such a scenario by changing the rules — and it is precisely there that the opposition sees a risk that the government could bypass normal spending controls.

Dismissed minister Taraba, who returned to parliament as an unaffiliated MP, set conditions for supporting the budget; but according to SNS MP Michelko, the coalition didn't need to meet them, since it has a majority even without him. Aktuality.sk ↗ According to Agriculture Minister Takáč, the coalition has at least 76 votes, and State Secretary Kuffa is being put forward as the new Minister of the Environment. SITA ↗ SNS chairman Danko wants to submit the proposal for Kuffa's appointment to PM Fico, who is to forward it to the president; Pellegrini has already hinted at reservations about his appointment — for now, the ministry is being run temporarily by PM Fico himself. Refresher ↗ Meanwhile, PM Fico reiterates that "things are very bad" and war could break out, and that approving the budget is therefore, in his view, not a matter of political prestige or competition but of Slovakia's security and stability — a framing that shifts the discussion away from specific budget figures toward the question of security. TA3 ↗ Besides the figures, the budget also brings concrete measures for families and pensioners — a €1,000 stroller allowance and the preservation of 13th pension payments Nový Čas ↗ — but it was precisely these points that triggered the dispute: SaS chairman Gröhling's remarks about the 13th pension payments angered the coalition, which sees them as casting doubt on the measure, while SaS describes them merely as an unpleasant truth about the state of public finances. Aktuality.sk ↗ The day before the vote, aktuality.sk announced a busy Tuesday in politics, in which the government also addresses the completion of the nuclear power plant, while SaS and KDH continue their attacks on the level of state debt. Aktuality.sk ↗

Matovič's road show: ten incidents and a dispute over his bodyguard detail

At a Hnutie Slovensko rally in Bytča, police intervened against a participant: according to Matovič, plainclothes police officers pacified a senior citizen, and Interior Minister Šutaj Eštok is announcing a change to the law. Postoj ↗ Denník N points out that it was the police, not the movement's own security, who "grounded" the senior citizen, and that it was precisely this intervention that triggered the backlash against Matovič's rallies. Denník N ↗

According to Aktuality, eight incidents involving Matovič himself were counted — the interior minister speaks of eight cases of inappropriate conduct by the opposition leader documented by the authorities, and he has backed the police's actions. Aktuality.sk ↗ The movement responded to the criticism with its own figures — in response to parliamentary speaker Raši, it stated that 50,000 people attended its summer road show of 72 events, and that police had to intervene in roughly ten cases involving what the movement describes as aggressive, drunk Smer voters. TA3 ↗ Standard quotes a security expert who asks what will happen next time — whether it will come to shooting at pensioners. Standard ↗ Within two days, the dispute thus shifted from the question of exactly what happened at one rally to the question of who should decide in the future when the state strips a politician of personal bodyguard protection — and that is no longer about assessing a single incident, but about changing the law.

Fico attacks Plaváková over her wedding, PS responds with "three mistresses"

The dispute stems from the fact that Plaváková married her partner abroad — Slovakia does not allow same-sex marriage domestically. PM Fico attacked PS MP Plaváková for marrying her partner abroad. Aktuality.sk ↗ He called her wedding an unconstitutional provocation. STVR ↗ TA3 and Denník N independently recorded an equally sharp response from PS, which told the prime minister that the constitution says nothing about his "three mistresses" either. TA3 ↗ Denník N ↗ A day after the attack, Plaváková herself spoke out — she and her wife told critics that their reactions to the decision change nothing. Nový Čas ↗

Prosecution in one day: Čeľadice, Kajúcnik and the dispute over the SIS chief

The prosecution had several sensitive cases on its desk in a single day. The Prosecutor General's Office under Žilinka reviewed the axe threats outside the school in Čeľadice and concluded that both the police and the prosecutor had erred. SITA ↗ In the Kajúcnik case, the Banská Bystrica Regional Prosecutor's Office dropped part of the charges against the so-called "čurillovci," though according to TA3 they remain under criminal prosecution and suspended from duty. TA3 ↗ Interior Minister Šutaj Eštok's handling of the čurillovci continues to draw criticism; according to an SME commentary, his treatment of Čurilla is "pathetic." SME ↗

At the same time, Žilinka is filing an administrative lawsuit in the case of SIS chief Gašpar's accident STVR ↗ and is asking the court to overturn Pellegrini's decision on his disciplinary punishment. Nitrák ↗

In the Očistec case, prosecutor Šanta testified in court. Standard sums up his testimony with the claim that former special prosecutor Kováčik failed both professionally and personally. Standard ↗ Denník N highlights a different aspect of the hearing — Šanta's testimony made the courtroom laugh and revealed his indignation toward Kováčik, while prosecutor Repa was also removed from the case. Denník N ↗ The common thread is that in a single day the prosecution's office cast doubt on the conduct of both the police and a prosecutor in Čeľadice, dropped part of the charges against prosecuted police officers in the Kajúcnik case, and Žilinka also challenged a presidential decision in court — making the Prosecutor General one of the most exposed actors of the current political season.

Local elections: final polls and changes to candidate lists

With less than two weeks to go before the elections to local and regional authorities on October 24, candidate lists and polls are shifting, and the campaign is growing sharper, just like national politics. In Žilina, a pre-election debate had to end early when candidate Cibulka would not leave the podium even when urged by the moderator. Žilinak ↗

The race for the Košice mayoralty is tight, according to a poll by Ixactly for TV Markíza: Ladislav Lörinc would win, but Mudrák and Polaček are breathing down his neck. SITA ↗ Meanwhile, Tibor Géci, who had also been running for chairman of the Košice Self-Governing Region, withdrew his candidacy and backed another candidate — an example of candidate lists being fine-tuned at the last minute even at the regional level. Korzár ↗

Under the radar

SNS chairman Danko told SME that his party had in the past paid disinfluencer Mimi Šramová, complaining about what he called the corrupt disinformation scene. SME ↗ The Office for Public Procurement is examining a complaint from the association Slovensko.Digital regarding a contract worth over €90 million for modernizing the Slovensko.sk portal. TASR ↗ Both stories seem unassuming, but they show two sides of a similar problem — how political communication on the fringes of the mainstream is financed, and how large state IT contracts are controlled.

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