Democracy Digest: No Consensus on Mandatory Jabs in Central Europe

With coalition-wide negotiations ongoing, Heger called on his political partners to "not succumb to anger" and "built a culture of respect" between each other. "I am convinced that the key to change is not banging our fists on the table… but showing each other respect and decisiveness," he wrote on social media.

According to some voices from within Heger's cabinet, the prime minister will consider resigning if he fails to whip enough support for his mandatory vaccination plan, Dennik N reported.

Heger's inoculation crusade comes on the back of criticism from President Zuzana Caputova, who was recently listed among the world's 100 most powerful women by Forbes magazine. "We're in a situation where we can no longer afford to watch endless political battles that have no winners, but only losers," Caputova said after a meeting with Heger.

She urged the prime minister to take responsibility and throw himself into solving problems that underlie the country's poor record in fighting the pandemic and the chaos surrounding the already adopted measures.

Slovakia has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the EU. The country also lags behind the European average of administered booster shots, with less than 10 per cent of the population having received the extra jab. As hospitalisations continue to mount, the public health system is on the brink of collapse. At the same time, Heger's political rivals are starting to circle as the premier's popularity plummets. Recent polls show that more than half of Slovaks are unhappy with the job their prime minister is doing.

The incoming Czech government said this week that one of its first moves when it finally takes power would be to cancel its predecessor's plans to impose mandatory vaccination for...