Ahoy, Slovakia watchers. The Dutch just ruffled the Slovak coalition’s feathers, and PM Robert Fico has thoughts on the now-scrapped Trump–Putin summit. Welcome to Today in Slovakia.
THE HAGUE POKED THE BEAR. The Dutch parliament has urged its government to take Slovakia to the European Court of Justice over its latest constitutional changes – and the Slovak government is not amused.
A RESPONSE FROM BRATISLAVA: “We defend our values. We impose them on no one – not even the Netherlands,” the Government Office declared. Bratislava accused The Hague of trampling on sovereignty and “interfering in internal affairs”.
THE MESSAGE TO THE DUTCH? BACK OFF. “Europe isn’t a superstate,” Bratislava warned. “If member states start suing one another over values, it’s not the end of the beginning — it’s the beginning of the end.”
ENTER THE FIREBRANDS. Coalition MP Michal Bartek (Hlas) went full tabloid: “In the Netherlands they’ve clearly snorted more than usual – you won’t dictate to Slovakia!” He’s calling for Dutch ambassador Jules Gerzon to be summoned. Bartek, known for wearing traditional folk costume during his swearing-in and for his anti-Brussels, anti-Ukraine views, has once again managed to grab attention.
THEN CAME TARABA. Ultra-conservative Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS) thundered: “I’ve never heard anything more desperate than suing us for saying there are only two sexes. Slovakia should sue the Netherlands for thinking there are more – and for annoying the rest of Europe with it.”
Diplomatic charm clearly isn’t the coalition’s strong suit. But PM Robert Fico’s attention turned elsewhere on Tuesday – to geopolitics, not the Netherlands.
FICO’S BUDAPEST DREAM. Fico threw his weight behind plans for a Trump–Putin summit in Budapest, accusing Brussels of behaving like a “war cabinet”.
FICO’S PEACE PITCH. “If the EU really wants peace, it should do everything possible to make the meeting happen,” he insisted, calling for a “Trump–Putin summit without obstacles”.
BUT THAT SHIP HAS SAILED. Trump has pulled out, dismissing the idea as a potential “wasted meeting”. Their last encounter – in Alaska this summer – delivered zero results.
FICO’S CALCULATED COURTSHIP. The Slovak leader has made no secret of his admiration for Trump. The question now: will Fico see the meeting the same way Trump does – or quietly pretend he didn’t hear the “no”?
Back home, the heat’s rising around spy chief Pavol Gašpar.
If you like what we’re doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you.
Spy chief in the crosshairs
“Shame! Mafia!” That’s what protesters chanted as they marched through Bratislava on Tuesday evening, demanding the resignation of Slovak Information Service (SIS) chief Pavol Gašpar, the son of prominent government MP Tibor Gašpar.
OPPOSITION ON THE STREETS. The protest, organised by the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, united opposition MPs and civic activists under one banner – “For Slovakia’s safety and future”. Demonstrators carried signs reading “Gašpar resign. To prison, not to government!” and “Enough of Fico!”
THE ROUTE OF DISSENT. Crowds gathered at Velvet Revolution Square before marching to the National Council (parliament) building, chanting “Shame!” and “Gašpar resign!” Police redirected traffic as 5,000 people joined the procession, waving Slovak and EU flags.
HARD WORDS FROM THE STAGE. Opposition figures Alojz Hlina, Branislav Gröhling, and Mária Kolíková took turns addressing the crowd from a small stage erected outside parliament. “We’re taking our country back from the mafia,” Hlina declared. Kolíková told demonstrators: “Democracy is ours – and we will not let them steal it.”
GAŠPAR UNDER FIRE. The demonstration marks a second major rally in two weeks calling for Gašpar’s departure. Critics accuse him of politicising the intelligence service.
THE PRESSURE BUILDS. SaS accused the spy chief of turning Slovakia’s intelligence service into an embarrassment “at home and abroad”. The party says Gašpar has acted unprofessionally, peddled coup conspiracies, flaunted a “gangster tattoo” and even injured a child in a car crash – conduct that, they note, “would have landed any ordinary citizen in court”.
GAŠPAR DIGS IN. The embattled spy chief continues to dismiss the criticism and has no plans to resign. On Tuesday, he appeared on the YouTube channel of Mimi Šramová – known for inviting only pro-government guests. (Šramová, incidentally, has had an unusual career trajectory: not long ago, her business revolved around cakes.) It was Gašpar’s second major interview in just three days, part of an effort to repair his public image.
NEXT ROUND COMING. Hlina announced another protest, provisionally scheduled for 4 or 5 November.
WHAT THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR HAD ON TUESDAY:
Pensioner who shot prime minister sentenced to 21 years for terrorist attack
Slovak towns blindsided by plans for giant state-backed wind farm
Despite adaptation, Slovak immigrants to America preserved their culture, identity
Born in Alaska, racing for Slovakia: A skier chases his Olympic dream
In Slovakia’s ‘Bermuda Triangle,’ a new trail invites you into the mystery
Glváč family’s Golden Eye
A luxury villa towering over Bratislava’s Horský park has reignited whispers about Smer’s inner circle and moneyed ties.
THE FIVE-MILLION-EURO VIEW. In July, an 84-year-old pensioner from Pezinok and his wife snapped up a newly finished mansion on Ostravská Street, one of the capital’s priciest neighbourhoods, according to SME. The buyer? Ján Glváč, father of Martin Glváč – Smer’s Bratislava party boss and former defence minister.
NEIGHBOURS IN HIGH PLACES. Just a few streets below sits PM Robert Fico’s flat with a panoramic terrace. After questions over the flat’s price and value last year, another luxury address linked to Smer figures is raising eyebrows.
A FAMILIAR STYLE. The villa – known as Golden Eye – was started in 2016 by a company called Mig Real, still the owner of the surrounding land and long connected to Glváč’s circle. Once intended as a single residence, it’s now split in two. Estimated value: €5.7 million. Complete with marble stairs, glass balustrades, a swimming pool, manicured terraces – and even a golf-simulator room in the basement.
SILENCE FROM GLVÁČ. Asked about the purchase, Glváč offered no comment.
HISTORY REPEATING. Glváč has previously lived in homes registered to family or partner-owned companies, including Posonium, based next door to Smer HQ and tied to developers once close to convicted fraudsters Ladislav Bašternák and Marian Kočner.
OLD FRIENDS, OLD MESSAGES. Leaked messages from 2018 revealed Glváč chatting with Kočner about politics — and about Kočner’s associate Alena Zsuzsová, with whom Glváč exchanged flirtatious texts. Zsuzsová is now serving 21 years for arranging a murder and remains on trial with Kočner in the Kuciak-Kušnírová case. The scandal forced Glváč to quit as deputy speaker in 2019, though he remains Smer’s Bratislava regional chief and occasionally appears at party events.
BUILT FOR A “FOREIGN CLIENT”? Back when construction began, Mig Real’s then-manager Lívia Krnčoková – a former law-office partner of Glváč – told journalists the villa was being built “for a foreign client”. Krnčoková later surfaced as chair of a Glváč family company running a hotel in Austria, now reporting losses.
A MAN WITHOUT PROPERTY – ON PAPER. Official records show Martin Glváč owns no property in Slovakia, though he enjoys an apartment in Sukošan, Croatia, and his family controls a hotel in Kaprun, Austria.
Korytnica comeback?
A once-grand spa between Ružomberok and Donovaly may finally bubble back to life. After two decades of decay under convicted fraudster Marian Kočner, the baths have been shut since 2002 and the famous mineral water hasn’t been bottled since 2019.
NEW OWNER, NEW ERA. A fresh company, Korytnica 1853, says it now controls the whole site and will soon restart bottling its mineral water, with longer-term plans to revive the spa itself, according to Denník N. The name nods to the year Vienna’s scientists first confirmed the springs’ healing power.
THE MAN BEHIND IT. The investor is Ivan Mashkantsev, a Russian-born businessman turned Slovak citizen with interests in chemicals and pharmaceuticals. His firm Prochemical Group once pulled in tens of millions in revenue; his pharma outfit MediPharm is smaller but still running.
HISTORY OF FALSE DAWNS. Mashkantsev’s earlier rescue bids – from the Petrochema Dubová refinery to Chemko Strážske – ended in bankruptcy or talks that fizzled. Locals have heard promises before, from Kočner to a carousel of controversial businessmen. None rebuilt a single bathhouse.
WHY KORYTNICA MATTERS. The waters have been used since at least the 16th century; by the 19th, Korytnica was a marquee Central European spa. Under Dr Jozef Ormay, the springs won strict protection and the water even exported to the USA – 60,000 bottles in 1905. The complex served soldiers in WWI, was nationalised in 1939, damaged in WWII, reborn in the 1950s, and thrived through the 1960s–70s before decline set in after the 1990s privatisation.
TUESDAY FEED: Party leaders online
COALITION
Robert Fico (Smer): The prime minister said he has forgiven the man who tried to kill him in Handlová – describing the shooter as a “tool of hatred” shaped by the media and opposition politicians.
Andrej Danko (SNS): The SNS leader reignited his anti-migration rhetoric, claiming Slovakia remains safer than Western countries and challenging pro-migration voices to name which states “benefit” from illegal refugees.
Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas): The interior minister hailed the 21-year sentence for the man who tried to kill the prime minister, calling the attack “an assault on democracy itself” and condemning those who, he said, now cynically question whether the assassination attempt even happened.
OPPOSITION
Michal Šimečka (PS): The Progressive Slovakia leader called it “a black day for Slovakia”, accusing the coalition of passing a budget of “Fico’s poverty and impoverishment”.
Milan Majerský (KDH): The KDH leader slammed the government and Education Minister Tomáš Drucker (Hlas), saying they had “completely failed” by passing a law that discriminates against children in private and church schools.
Igor Matovič (Slovensko): In his trademark folksy style, the former prime minister shared a late-night confession – breaking his no-dinner vow for five chocolate-covered jam pancakes, asking followers if their willpower fared any better.
Branislav Gröhling (SaS): The SaS leader thanked the more than 5,000 protesters who marched through Bratislava demanding Pavol Gašpar’s resignation, vowing that the opposition will “keep fighting” until the spy chief steps down.
EXTRA
Milan Uhrík (Republika): The far-right Republika leader unleashed a furious post blaming “immigrant gangs” for crime in Europe, praising Donald Trump’s hardline measures in the US.
In other news
Parliament approved the government’s 2026 budget, backed by 79 coalition MPs. The Slovak Spectator will publish a full analysis on Wednesday.
Parliament approved Education Minister Tomáš Drucker’s sweeping school reforms, a package of seven laws billed as the biggest overhaul in two decades. The changes – backed by the coalition and opposed by the KDH and private and church schools – introduce a new funding system from 2028 that will cut state support by 20 percent for non-public schools unless they accept government conditions.
A major apartment fire in the village of Valaská, Brezno district, early Tuesday morning destroyed three flats and damaged 16 in total, prompting the mayor to declare an emergency situation. (TASR)
Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok has officially appointed Jana Maškarová as Slovakia’s police chief. She has led the force since January in an acting role, but her appointment was confirmed only after the parliament’s security committee approved her following a public hearing.
Fico’s government is preparing to restrict cash payments — a sharp turn from its earlier defence of the “right to cash”. Officials say limits are needed to curb tax evasion and the grey economy, even as Slovakia still hasn’t enforced its existing €15,000 cap. From 2027, EU rules will ban cash transactions over €10,000, meaning the limits will tighten – likely by the end of Fico’s term. (Denník N)
Transport Minister Jozef Ráž wants the government in November to back his first big PPP project – a €2.6 billion plan to repair around 575 first-class road bridges over five years. The project, still in early stages, would see private investors finance the works in exchange for 30-year state repayments, with critics warning of high costs, conflicts of interest and limited public transparency so far. (Denník N)
Minister Ráž announced that the R2 Kriváň–Mýtna highway section will open on 20 November, nearly a year late and at a higher cost – rising from €232 million to about €270 million. The project’s price per kilometre has climbed to almost €30 million, inflated by unexpected waste deposits and Slovakia’s longest bridge along the route.
A conference on cooperation with Ukraine will be held in Bratislava in November. The event aims to boost bilateral ties on EU integration and post-war recovery, covering projects under the EU’s Ukraine Investment Framework, trade coordination, and a planned memorandum on sustainable development and forestry cooperation. (TASR)
THE BRIGHT SIDE
SPOTTED: Writer and former Icelandic first lady Eliza Reid at the Forbes Women’s Summit in Bratislava, catching up with former Slovak president Zuzana Čaputová and addressing hundreds of women ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Day Off.
PROUD: Residents of Devínska Nová Ves, Bratislava, have been sharing photos of a majestic fallow deer roaming the area – often seen crossing roads near the Wait Quarry around dawn. Locals warn drivers to be cautious, as the proud animal reportedly pauses mid-road to let its herd pass.
CULTURE WATCH: A new exhibition titled 40 Years of GUnaGU opened at the Slovak Press Photo Gallery in Bratislava (Františkánske námestie 7), celebrating four decades of the iconic alternative theatre. Founded in 1985, Divadlo GUnaGU has become a cornerstone of Slovak theatre, known for its humour, social reflection, and fearless creativity.
WEEKEND TIP: The Parný Rozkvet sauna festival returns to Wakelake, Zlaté piesky, this Saturday, 25 October, promising a full day of relaxation and creativity – from mobile saunas and music to breathwork workshops and massages. The event, symbolically “blessed” by the Finnish ambassador, will run alongside the popular lantern floating on the lake.
Wednesday, 22 October — What to watch
MPs are back in the debating chamber, with committees on European affairs, constitutional law, social issues, and SIS oversight all convening in Bratislava.
The government holds its cabinet meeting in Bratislava.
Tatra banka hosts an analyst briefing on economic and rate forecasts, tariff impacts, and fiscal consolidation challenges.
In Partizánske, US company Medline Assembly Slovakia holds a ceremony for its new SK3.0 plant.
Akčné ženy (Action Women) unveil findings from the Equal Pay Day 2025 survey, questioning whether gender and age discrimination in pay still persist in Slovakia.
WEDNESDAY’S FRONT PAGES
Denník N: 21 years
Sme: Unrealistic deficit and rising debt
Hospodárske noviny: Law of the year is passed. Healthcare will feel cuts
Pravda: Reality of travel: four out of five trains run late
Wednesday weather: Mostly cloudy with occasional drizzle. Highs 9–14°C, up to 20°C in the west and Zemplín.
Name day: Sergej
Happy belated birthday: Slovak bodybuilding pioneer Juraj Pipašík turned 85 on 20 October. After emigrating to the US in 1968, he became the personal trainer of Sylvester Stallone, helping prepare the actor for his iconic roles in Rambo and Rocky.
That’s all for today. See you tomorrow for another round of Slovakia’s politics.
P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram(@slovakspectator).
Join our newsletter family and never miss a Slovak moment: Today in Slovakia | Last Week in Slovakia | Slovak Science| Spectacular Slovakia | Slovak Roots
