Slovakia-UAE Economic Push: Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates met in Bratislava for their 2nd Joint Economic Committee, lining up cooperation in energy and green tech, digitalisation and cybersecurity, agriculture, smart urbanisation, healthcare, and even space and waste management, with non-oil trade hitting $812.7M in 2025. Space for the Region: ESA, on behalf of the Czech Republic, signed an agreement with Vast for a private astronaut mission to the ISS, with Czech reserve astronaut Aleš Svoboda set to serve as pilot pending approvals. Slovak Defence Deliveries: Patria has completed delivery of the final batch of AMV XP 8×8 ambulance vehicles to Slovakia under a 2022 government-to-government deal, including tech transfer to strengthen local industrial capacity. Cybersecurity Watch: ESET reports new Android spyware “Asin” targeting Arabic users via fake utility, PDF, and war-map themed sites, including campaigns using domains impersonating government news. EU Pay Transparency Deadline: Cyprus is among most EU states missing the pay transparency directive deadline, while Slovakia is listed as having completed transposition (at least on paper). Healthcare Connectivity in Slovakia’s Neighbourhood: In Kenya’s Murang’a County, all 170 public health facilities were connected using satellite internet via Starlink-linked services to boost telemedicine access. EU Economic Roadmap: The European Commission adopted the 2026 European Semester Spring Package, steering member states toward resilience, competitiveness, faster decarbonisation, housing solutions, and skills.