Slovak President tasks Fico with forming new government

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová has given election winner and Smer leader Robert Fico 14 days to form a new government, while he says he will do “everything possible” to make it happen, with the second-placed Progressive Slovakia saying the same about thwarting his efforts.

Fico has been trying to present a more amiable face since winning Saturday’s election, knowing he needs to get the seats of defectors from his party, Hlas led by Peter Pellegrini. Pellegrini said the coalition would need to ensure the continuation of Slovakia’s foreign policy.

“Slovakia’s foreign policy orientation will not change,” Fico said during a press conference, adding that does not mean “we will not be critical of things we do not like about the EU”. That is not being a “peace project” and being “dependent on the USA”.

President of Smer’s Party of European Socialists said in an interview with Swedish portal Dagens Nyheter that he will start the proceedings of expelling Smer if Fico’s rhetoric on Ukraine continues in government. Fico repeated his stance, saying that his government would provide humanitarian aid and help with rebuilding but not armaments.

After tasking Fico with forming the government, President Čaputová also plans to meet Pellegrini and Michal Šimečka, leader of Progressive Slovakia. Šimečka has said he will do “everything he can” to make sure Fico fails.

To do that, Šimečka would have to give Pellegrini a better deal than Fico. But former Smer member Marek Maďarič thinks that is unlikely due to shared interest in stopping corruption investigations.

“Just like people from the Smer circle, high-ranking people from the Hlas circles have been investigated, accused, and there is a common interest in both parties to remove or replace the police president, the special prosecutor,” Maďarič said in a radio interview.

Police Chief Štefan Hamral already said he would not wait to be fired but would leave on his own if a Smer government formed.

Šimečka said he was having “informal” conversations with leaders of other parties, including Hlas and said the progressives have “no red lines” but that the prime ministership traditionally “belongs” to the strongest coalition party.

(Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)