Trade unionists are concerned about the upcoming Labour Code amendment, Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) president Miroslav Gazdik told journalists after meeting Prime Minister Iveta Radicova on Thursday. Because of their worries, Labour Minister Jozef Mihal (SaS) has invited them to a discussion with employers on certain parts of the amendment.

Coalition SDKU-DS MP Tatiana Rosova on Thursday officially announced her candidacy for the post of mayor of Bratislava-Old Town district in the local elections in November. "The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) has no reservations towards my candidacy. It's expressed willingness to discuss me being the joint coalition candidate," said Rosova, who is ready to give up her MP post if elected.

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic on Thursday congratulated Slovak hammer-thrower Libor Charfreitag on his victory the day before in Barcelona that brought Slovakia its first-ever gold medal at the European Championships. The president thanked the athlete for representing Slovakia, wishing him a great deal of success in his career.

The new Slovak government's manifesto approved by ruling parties lacks any hint about how it plans to reach its stated goal of cutting the public finances deficit, said Chairman of opposition party Smer-SD Robert Fico on Thursday. The former premier cast doubt on Finance Minister Ivan Miklos's plans to cut back public finances deficit by 1.7 billion euros or 2.5 percent of GDP. "If someone is saying he will save 2 billion euros, which is a hefty sum, he should reveal clear tools by which to achieve this. There is nothing there, no element of stabilisation," Fico said.

Slovakia's Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda visited Berlin on Thursday and met his counterpart Guido Westerwelle for talks about topical European issues, the minister told reporters afterwards. Dzurinda stressed Slovakia's desire to maintain a strong and stable euro. Dzurinda also said that he had extended an invitation to Westerwelle to attend a meeting between Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as guest when the Visegrad Four group marks its 20th anniversary later this year.

The new governing coalition is clearly experiencing problems with integrity and the upcoming parliamentary sessions will soon reveal how the government will fare, Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic told TASR on Wednesday. Four Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MPs are contemplating leaving the SaS caucus due to the cabinet refusing to incorporate their demands into the government's programme.

Long-standing Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman and lawmaker Jan Slota has decided not to run for re-election at the party congress of September 12, separate sources close to Slota told TASR on Wednesday. Slota offered to resign his after the general election on June 12 in which his party only narrowly made it back into parliament. Four years earlier it enjoyed 12 percent in the polls.

Slovakia's central bank (NBS) said on Wednesday that it would join a joint Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) organised by certain central banks in the eurozone in order to help provide the European Central Bank (ECB) and themselves with data comparable with that in other eurozone countries.

The cabinet led by Prime Minister Iveta Radicova at a session on Wednesday approved the government's programme. The document is now awaiting approval from Parliament in early August. The vote in Parliament will at the same time be viewed as a vote of confidence for the new executive.

Germany is the second country that Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda is going to visit since he took office. The first country he visited as minister was, in keeping with tradition, the Czech Republic. During his trip to Berlin on Thursday, Dzurinda is scheduled to meet his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.

Paintball weapons, air rifles and tranquilliser guns will be re-classified in the 'D' category as of Wednesday, according to an amendment to the Act on Firearms and Ammunition. Because of this, gun-holders will be required to carry IDs when armed, and keep their weapons concealed in public. Furthermore, they will need to submit to alcohol breath-tests and if they use their weapons in self-defence or outside the designated limits, they are required to notify the police.

Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska said at a briefing on Tuesday that high bonuses for some of the former officials working at the Justice Ministry were okayed immorally. A group of the privileged emerged at the ministry over the past years, she said. "We're looking into it, and changes need to be made in this for the future. The new management at the ministry plans to enjoy no such bonuses. Not at all," emphasised Zitnanska.

The Manifesto proposal that the Coalition Council discussed on Monday night represents a "big intersection" of the individual election programmes of the Coalition parties, political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov told TASR on Tuesday. It was impossible to include everything in the Manifesto due to the currently unfavourable state of the economy. "However, general agreement is really strong (...) that this Coalition is the most homogenous composition since 1993," he said.

The new leadership of the Finance Ministry has been analysing the international lawsuit filed by stock-holders of private health insurance companies over the ban that prevents them from using their profits outside the Slovak health system. New Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) met with representatives of the company Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP that is serving as the ministry's legal representative in the lawsuit on Tuesday.

Representatives of several state institutions as of November won't have automatic access to Government sessions, according to a draft of the Competences Act that has been submitted to ministries for comments, TASR learnt on Tuesday. According to the new legislation, it will be the premier to decide on who should attend particular Government sessions.

Slovakia's central bank (NBS) governor Jozef Makuch said on Monday that he expects the subsidiaries of the European banks operating in the country to have passed the stress tests conducted by European Union late last week that have boosted share values in Europe's largest banks. "The parent banks have fared very well in the stress tests. We will receive data relating to the subsidiaries based in Slovakia around August 6," he told reporters after talks with Premier Iveta Radicova.

Slovakia's Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal from the prime suspect in the recent murder of Laszlo Basternak (former comptroller and mayor of Hurbanovo/Trnava region) against his being held in pre-trial custody. "In a resolution at Monday's in-camera session the Supreme Court upheld the ruling against the accused (identified only as Stefan K)," media was told by the Court. Basternak was shot dead with a single bullet on July 9.

Right-wing extremists plan to organise a national march to the Svatopluk statue built (by Robert Fico's Government) at the Bratislava castle's courtyard. Regional Matica Slovenska chairman in Puchov and Trencin region co-ordinator for extreme right-wing Our Slovakia political party Marian Misun calls on people via internet to attend the march, set for August 7. The extremists plan to start off the march in front of the Supreme Court building.

King of Norway Harald V and Queen Sonja will come to Slovakia in October for a three-day visit. On October 26, the royal couple will be received by Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic along with his wife Silvia at Presidential Palace. During the first day, the royal guests are also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Iveta Radicova, Parliamentary Chairman Richard Sulik, and visit the Bratislava Primatial Palace to hold talks with Bratislava mayor Andrej Durkovsky.

The six parties that entered Parliament after the June 12 general election spent a total of 10,206,300 euros on their campaign, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. The then strongest opposition party SDKU-DS invested in 3,120,000 euros, ahead of SNS having spent 2,736,500 euros and Smer-SD also crossing the 2-million mark with 2,150,000 euros. Christian Democrats (KDH) sank 940,000 euros in its campaign, Most-Hid nearly 700,000 euros, and Freedom and Solidarity 528,500 euros.

LS-HZDS is preparing for a political gremium which will determine the programme of the party board session planned for September, Jan Kovarcik from LS-HZDS told TASR on Friday. At the board session top-ranking officials of the party should analyse the failure in the parliamentary election - wherein the party failed to reach the 5-percent threshold required to win seats in parliament for the first time ever.

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic said on Friday that he was surprised by the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague a day earlier which ruled that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 didn't violate international law. Gasparovic stated that Slovakia should persevere in its negative stance towards Kosovo's independence, as international agreements and international law need to be respected.

Former interior minister Robert Kalinak's candidacy for the post of Bratislava mayor is absolutely out of the question, as he wants to focus entirely on his duties as an MP, Smer spokesperson Silvia Glendova told TASR on Friday. Glendova also said that the party still hasn't decided whether it will support Mayor of Petrzalka (Bratislava's most populous borough) Milan Ftacnik in his bid to become Bratislava mayor or if it will nominate its own candidate.

Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has gained an image as a decisive and tough politician in Europe, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after the two met on Friday in Warsaw. Tusk appreciated the fact that Radicova chose Warsaw as one of the first places to visit after becoming Premier. "Slovakia and Poland are gaining a great deal in terms of reputation and their importance within the EU thanks to us trying to assume accountability for many European issues," said Tusk.