REGIONAL state administration offices are to be abolished "as soon as possible," Prime Minister Robert Fico told journalists in Prešov on September 8 following a meeting with the heads of the country’s eight independent regional governments.
Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák is to submit a schedule by September 20 for the cancellation of the regional offices, the PM said.
Slovakia is currently divided into eight self-governing regions, created in 2001 under a wide-ranging reform of public administration. While many powers formerly exercised by the central government devolved to the regions and to municipalities, the former regional offices administered by the central state remained in place.
At their meeting with Fico, the regional chairmen assured the PM that their governments were ready to take over the powers of the regional offices. It is not known how many employees at these offices will be transferred to other departments, and how many will be laid off.