The thirteenth pension is irrevocable, there is nothing to debate about. This was announced by the head of the parliamentary club Smeru-SD Ján Richter in the Sunday discussion show STVR O 5 minut 12. Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and chairman of SaS Branislav Gröhling, on the other hand, thinks that the current setting of the 13th pension is unsustainable and burdens the budget. However, he can imagine that 13. pensions would be addressable.
- Ján Richter described the thirteenth pension as an irrevocable and non-negotiable entitlement of pensioners.
- Branislav Gröhling considers the current setting of the thirteenth pension to be financially unsustainable.
This year’s municipal elections were also a topic of discussion. According to Richter, Smer expects that for supporting the candidacy of the current chairman of the Nitra self-governing region (NSK), Branislav Becík, they will support Smer’s candidate for mayor of Nitra in Hlas-SD. He emphasized that if they do not come to an agreement, the deputy chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Tibor Gašpar (Smer-SD) is ready to run for the chairmanship of NSK.
Regarding the support for the candidacy of Minister of Investments Samuel Migaľ (independent) for the chairman of the Prešov self-governing region, according to Richter, they will leave this decision to the regional organization Smeru-SD in Prešov. In the case of the candidate for mayor of Nitra, Henrich Varga, supported by SaS, Gröhling admitted that the opposition parliamentary movement PS is still hesitating to support him.
In connection with Prime Minister Robert Fico’s (Smer-SD) trip to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations, Gröhling informed that SaS filed a criminal complaint for treason. The party also plans to submit a resolution to the National Council of the Slovak Republic at the next meeting, in which they want to condemn this route. Gröhling thinks that Fico talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow about how it will be possible to influence next year’s parliamentary elections in Slovakia.
Richter countered that Fico and Putin discussed energy in private. At the same time, Richter assumes that the joint negotiations between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments will take place next month. However, he could not say whether he would be in Bratislava or Kyiv. He also stated that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz should come on an official visit to Slovakia on May 29.
