Freedom and Solidarity
With His New Party, Slovak PM Embarks on a Mission to Unify
"Giving up is not a solution. It's what the mafia wants," Heger wrote on social media soon after, employing a term that Matovič's OĽaNO often uses to refer to previous governments led by Robert Fico's Smer party.
Russia says it destroyed Slovakian S-300 system sent to Ukraine – Slovakia rejects the report
Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the report was rejected by the Ukrainian side
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.
Slovakia’s Remade Government: Old Wine in a New Bottle
Still, describing Heger's cabinet as "new" is arguably a step too far. Heger from the OLaNO (Ordinary People and Independent Personalities) movement merely swapped seats with party leader Matovic, and five of the six ministers who resigned during the crisis have since returned to their posts, with the only new face at the health department.
Slovakia’s New Government Faces Unprecedented Crisis
"No other government in Slovak history has ever started in such a complicated situation," President Zuzana Caputova said in a speech on March 19, expressing confidence that the cabinet would lead the country through the coronavirus crisis..
Slovakia’s Next Prime Minister: Maverick or Saviour?
While Smer-SD's defeat was almost inevitable, the winner was as surprising as it was deserved — Igor Matovic, an unorthodox politician, successful self-made businessman and a genius of political marketing.
Anti-Corruption Party Tops Vote in Slovakia Election
In the first parliamentary election since the murder two years ago of journalist Jan Kuciak, the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLANO) party took almost 25 per cent of the vote, compared with 18.5 per cent for SMER-SD.
It was SMER-SD's first loss in a general election since 2006 and its worst showing at the ballot box since 2002.
Slovakia's Fico loses majority in parliamentary elections amid extreme right
Slovakia's leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico said March 6 that he would begin difficult coalition talks after he won elections on an anti-refugee platform but lost his parliamentary majority as smaller parties, including the extreme right, scored first-time seats.