House debates new budget

Parliament started debating the 2020 state budget at its session on Friday. Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky presented the fact that the budget won't be in balance as it was planned. As he stated, as soon as the 2019 budget was approved several matters occurred resulting in the expected deficit of 0.68% GDP. The options for suspending judges and prosecutors are to be expanded, according to an amendment to the law on judges and associate judges approved by the Cabinet at a special session on Thursday. The approved measures are designed to prevent people who could seriously compromise the credibility of the judiciary or the prosecutor's office from acting as judges or prosecutors. The legislation was officially submitted to the Cabinet session by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD. The amendment will be debated by MPs during the ongoing parliamentary session. Pellegrini expects the debate to take place next week after the one on the state budget.