What Slovakia Is Talking About: Budget Heads to Final Vote, Kamenický Refuses to Resign. Matovič May Lose His Security 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 and rejects balanced finances, while Prime Minister Fico describes its approval not as a matter of political prestige but of Slovakia's security and stability. The day's second thread is also domestic security — Hnutie Slovensko admitted that police intervened in ten cases during its summer road show, which drew 50,000 participants, sparking a debate over whether the movement's leader Matovič should continue receiving state-provided security. Meanwhile, with less than two weeks until local elections, candidate lists are changing in Košice, Fico attacked PS MP Plaváková over her wedding, and prosecutors had three sensitive cases on their desk in a single day.

2027 Budget: Kamenický refuses to resign, Fico speaks of security

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

The dispute has also 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 governing budget provisional management. TA3 ↗ Provisional budget management kicks in when parliament fails to approve a new budget by year's end, and the coalition wants to free its hands by changing the rules for such a scenario — which is exactly where the opposition sees a risk that the government could bypass normal spending controls.

Dismissed minister Taraba, who returned to parliament as an independent MP, set conditions for supporting the budget; however, according to SNS MP Michelko, the coalition didn't need to accommodate him, 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 considered for the new Minister of the Environment. SITA ↗ SNS chairman Danko wants to submit the proposal for Kuffa's appointment to Prime Minister Fico, who would then forward it to the president; Pellegrini had already signaled reservations about his appointment — the ministry is currently being temporarily led by Prime Minister Fico himself. Refresher ↗ Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fico reminds that "things are very bad" and war could break out, so he says approving the budget is 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 ↗

Matovič's road show: ten incidents and the dispute over his security detail

At a Hnutie Slovensko rally in Bytča, police intervened against a participant: according to Matovič, plainclothes police officers subdued an elderly man, and the 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 elderly man, and that this very intervention triggered the backlash against Matovič's rallies. Denník N ↗

According to Aktuality, Matovič himself was involved in eight incidents — the Interior Minister speaks of eight cases of inappropriate conduct by the opposition leader documented by 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 its summer road show comprised 72 events attended by 50,000 people, and police had to intervene in roughly ten cases, in which, according to the movement, Smer voters under the influence of alcohol became aggressive. TA3 ↗ Standard quotes a security expert who asks what will happen next time — whether it will escalate to shooting at pensioners. Standard ↗ Within two days, the dispute thus shifted from the question of exactly what happened at one particular rally to the question of who should decide in the future when the state revokes a politician's personal security detail — and that is already a matter of changing the law, not assessing a single incident.

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

The dispute stems from the fact that Plaváková married her partner abroad — same-sex marriage is not permitted under Slovak law. Prime Minister Fico attacked PS MP Plaváková for marrying her partner abroad. Aktuality.sk ↗ He called her wedding an unconstitutional provocation. STVR ↗ Both 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 ↗

Prosecutors in a single day: Čeľadice, Kajúcnik, and the dispute over the SIS chief

Prosecutors had several sensitive cases on their desk in a single day. The General Prosecutor's Office under Žilinka reviewed the axe threats outside a school in Čeľadice and concluded that both the police and the prosecutor had made mistakes. 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 ↗

Žilinka is also filing an administrative lawsuit in the case of the crash involving SIS chief Gašpar STVR ↗ and is asking the court to annul Pellegrini's decision on his disciplinary punishment. Nitrák ↗

In the Očistec case, prosecutor Šanta testified in court. Standard summarizes 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 outrage at Kováčik, while prosecutor Repa was also removed from the case. Denník N ↗ The common thread is that in a single day, the prosecution questioned the conduct of both police and a prosecutor in the Čeľadice case, dropped part of the charges against prosecuted police officers in the Kajúcnik case, and Žilinka challenged in court even a decision by the president — making the prosecutor general one of the most prominent figures of the current political season.

Local elections: latest polls and changes to candidate lists

With less than two weeks until the local and regional elections on October 24, candidate lists and polls are shifting, and the campaign is growing sharper, mirroring national politics. In Žilina, a pre-election debate had to end early when candidate Cibulka refused to leave the stage even when urged by the moderator. Žilinak ↗

The battle for the Košice mayor's office is tight according to a poll by the Ixactly agency for TV Markíza: Ladislav Lörinc would win, but Mudrák and Polaček are breathing down his neck. SITA ↗ Meanwhile, Tibor Géci, who was also seeking the chairmanship 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 admitted to SME that his party previously paid disinformation influencer Mimi Šramová and complained about what he called the corrupt disinformation scene. SME ↗ The Office for Public Procurement is addressing a complaint from the Slovensko.Digital association regarding a contract worth over €90 million to modernize the Slovensko.sk portal. TASR ↗ Both stories seem inconspicuous, but they reveal 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.

What hotinfo is following