Parliament returns, Hlas may decide Taraba's fate
According to STVR, the National Council returns to session on Tuesday after the summer recess. STVR ↗ The agenda has more than 300 items and several sensitive topics, including the continuing dispute over Minister Taraba, ta3 notes. ta3 ↗ A Pravda commentator summed up the current state of the standoff between SNS chairman Andrej Danko and Taraba as a question of which of the two will ultimately fail to hold his position. Pravda ↗ MP Peter Slyško has meanwhile entered the dispute — in SME's morning briefing he did not rule out cooperating with Taraba in parliament, although he is keeping other options open too. SME ↗SNS chairman Andrej Danko has meanwhile escalated the dispute with an ultimatum — if Fico does not dismiss Taraba, the SNS will block the opening of the nearly 300-item session, and according to Pravda the coalition is already tallying how many MPs would stand behind the minister in a potential vote Pravda ↗. Taraba himself has ruled out joining the coalition caucus if he is dismissed, declaring that he will remain an "autonomous MP": "I am not for sale, they don't need to shuffle me around like a sack of potatoes." Fico underscored the fragility of the coalition by saying that "the government majority is very fragile and thin" — without Taraba's votes it would have only 77 votes, which also raises the stakes around a possible decision by Slyško, about whom Fico said he is "flirting" with Taraba; however, Hlas chairman Richard Raši insists the MP remains in the caucus. According to Taraba, the key date is September 30, on which his political future hinges.
By the afternoon, the speculation was over. The proposal to dismiss Taraba, which Prime Minister Fico sent to President Peter Pellegrini, arrived at the Presidential Palace shortly after noon STVR ↗, SITA ↗. Pellegrini will deal with it only after returning from his working trip to the United States, will set the date of the dismissal himself, and is currently discussing with the prime minister who will temporarily take over the ministry TERAZ ↗.
It's worth noting how the newsrooms' vocabulary diverges here. Both TASR and Štandard write that the president received Taraba's "resignation" (demisia), while SITA, STVR and ta3 speak of a "proposal for dismissal" Štandard ↗, ta3 ↗. These are not synonyms: a resignation is submitted by the minister himself, whereas dismissal is carried out by the president on the prime minister's proposal. Taraba did not offer his own departure — on the contrary, he is resisting dismissal — so factually it is the latter case.
Danko's morning ultimatum did not come to pass. The National Council session was successfully opened, with 77 of 150 MPs present SITA ↗. Taraba responded with a video on social media: "If it comes to a dismissal, it would be the most bizarre moment," calling his removal "the result of small-minded politics" STVR ↗. Fico spoke of decisions that he himself, after 34 years in politics, does not understand, warned against "cheap populists" ("lacní Jožkovia"), and said further steps would come within the next two to three weeks. President Pellegrini will address MPs on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. with a State of the Republic address Pravda ↗.
Kaliňák confirms payments from Strnad's group, denies conflict of interest
The day's most closely watched topic ultimately was not Taraba but Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer-SD). The Czech outlet Seznam Zprávy published documents early in the morning showing that his company Kallan Consulting collected money for lobbying on behalf of Michal Strnad's arms group CSG Seznam Zprávy ↗. Slovak newsrooms picked up the story before noon SME ↗, .týždeň ↗, Aktuality ↗.In the afternoon, Kaliňák confirmed the cooperation to TASR. According to him, Kallan Consulting provided lobbying, consulting, and legal-organizational services to the company Army Trade from the CSG group in connection with a presentation in the United Arab Emirates, and the relationship ended at the end of 2023. "It didn't end because I became minister — the contract had already been concluded by then. It was a coincidence that it happened at the same time," said the minister, who was appointed to the post at the end of October 2023 Aktuality ↗, TERAZ ↗. The CSG group, through spokesman Andrej Čírtek, clarified that the contract ran from February 2022 to December 2023, that it was the only paid project, and that it considers the fee confidential, though "relatively low." The minister did not say exactly how much the company received SME ↗.
The framing of this same answer diverges among newsrooms more than on any other topic today. Wire coverage keeps a neutral line — "the minister confirmed the cooperation and denies a conflict of interest" — while Denník N summed it up in a headline saying he "helped Strnad's Tatra in the Emirates as a paid consultant, then as minister allocated contracts to it" Denník N ↗, and an SME commentary outright calls for the minister to leave the ministry SME ↗. Opposition MP Tomáš Valášek (PS) speaks of a conflict of interest with one of the main suppliers to the armed forces, and both PS and Za ľudí are demanding a review of the relationship with Strnad TERAZ ↗, Hospodárske noviny ↗. Kaliňák also denies a conflict of interest regarding the purchase of Tatra trucks from the CSG group worth approximately €1.5 billion.
Kaliňák did not resign, and the government has not signaled his departure. The evening Newsfilter from Denník N states that it was actually he, not Taraba, who was supposed to go to the Presidential Palace with a resignation at noon — though this is the newsroom's own assessment, not a report of a step the minister actually took Denník N ↗.
Justice minister targets the verdict, governor Trnka targets the police
In the same morning briefing, SME reported that Justice Minister Boris Susko filed an extraordinary appeal (dovolanie) seeking to overturn the verdict against final-judgment-convicted former officer Ján Kaľavský, questioning how the court evaluated the evidence in his case. SME ↗ Kaľavský is a figure who has previously appeared in connection with the case surrounding former police chief Tibor Gašpar, which HotInfo covered in the previous edition of this series. The dovolanie is an extraordinary remedy that the justice minister files only rarely, which gives Susko's step particular weight in a sensitive police-judicial case.A month before the regional elections, Košice Self-Governing Region chairman Rastislav Trnka faces a similar dispute over trust in the police, as he defends his post as an independent candidate after being indicted this year in the so-called "spreaders" (sypače) case. According to SME, he accused the police of misusing an arrest warrant to serve the indictment just before the elections, but did not explain how he learned of the service procedure itself. SME ↗ He has therefore said he will turn to the interior minister's inspection service to have the police procedure reviewed. Pluska ↗
Social policy: cuts to outpatient care, new benefits, and pressure on the labor office chief
According to Hospodárske noviny, the coalition rejected a proposal to save outpatient social services, and the opposition KDH wants to bring an amendment to the debate. Hospodárske noviny ↗ The movement itself warned ahead of the vote that without intervention the services are genuinely disappearing. SME ↗ The labor minister also presented further changes to social benefits, which the opposition, according to STVR, calls unsystematic. STVR ↗ Support for dependent persons, on the other hand, is set to grow — according to Markíza, the state will allocate €400 million more for it, and new rules will be added to the benefits. Markíza ↗At the same time, a dispute is brewing over the head of the Labor, Social Affairs and Family Office, Ormandy. The Progressive Slovakia (PS) movement is demanding his dismissal. SME ↗ PS MP Simona Petrík accuses him, according to TERAZ, of neglecting social guardianship (kuratela). TERAZ ↗
State money: dispute over fuel, expensive commissions, and a warning over a major IT project
According to TERAZ, the finance ministry pushed back against information from the opposition SaS party regarding fuel prices. TERAZ ↗ Hospodárske noviny reported the same story, according to which the dispute between the ministry and the opposition over the size of any potential price cut is far from over. Hospodárske noviny ↗ Agriculture falls into a similar chapter — Pravda notes that the sector in Slovakia is undergoing drastic changes under the pressure of climate change. Pravda ↗On the other side of the budget, compensation is also rising — Markíza notes that the pay for members of election commissions has risen by 430 percent over ten years, to €165 per day. Markíza ↗ Živé.sk, meanwhile, reports on an urgent appeal to the government concerning money and risk in a major IT project. Živé.sk ↗
Under the radar
The daughters of Smer-SD MP Ľuboš Muňko obtained ten mooring spots on the Danube without a tender; Bratislava mayor Matúš Vallo wants the state company to cancel the contracts, SME writes. SME ↗ Denník N covers the planned reform of local self-government and asks why today a mayor must wait for a government field visit to resolve an ordinary problem. Denník N ↗ In Bratislava, according to Markíza, the so-called toxic cocktail threatening drinking water still has not been resolved, even though it has been a risk topic for a long time. Markíza ↗ At a school in Košice, according to the same source, children get baguettes instead of a hot lunch, as the cafeteria has been missing for over two years. Markíza ↗ And financial police investigators, according to SME's Korzár, have chosen new leased headquarters located directly at a top distributor of medicines for hospitals. SME Korzár ↗ Alongside the regional elections, this year's municipal elections — being held on the same date — are also taking shape; bystricoviny.sk has compiled a complete list of candidates for mayor and city council in Banská Bystrica. bystricoviny.sk ↗ And according to SITA, the National March for Life is returning to Bratislava, this time aiming to highlight gaps in the law. SITA ↗What hotinfo is watching
- By September 15 (today): whether Prime Minister Fico actually submits the proposal to dismiss Minister Taraba, or whether the dispute gets pushed to later after today's opening of the session.
- Hlas-SD caucus: whether Peter Slyško's openness to cooperating with Taraba turns into an actual vote during the September session.
- The Kaľavský case: how the court rules on Susko's extraordinary appeal and whether the final verdict against the former officer actually changes.
- Košice regional election: what conclusion the inspection review of the police's conduct toward Trnka reaches, a month before the vote for KSK chairman.
- Social services and Ormandy: whether parliament advances the KDH amendment to save outpatient services, and how the pressure to dismiss the head of the Labor Office is resolved.
