A senior member of the opposition HZDS party said the party is willing to support the Mikuláš Dzurinda government in case it is deserted by the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), in return for a halt to legal cases against HZDS members.
The Hungarian party has threatened to leave the ruling coalition over a new law on public administration, threatening the stability of the coalition. If the party removes its support of the coalition the government has limited powers to pass a number of important laws, such as the state budget, later this year.
The SMK decision has also worried US representatives in Slovakia. US Chargé d'Affaires Douglas Hengel told Deputy Prime Minister for Integration Mária Kadlečíková that the United States' was concerned about political developments in Slovakia following the SMK's declared resolve to leave the coalition. He later told the daily Sme that it would be a "bad sign" for Slovakia in the eyes of its integration partners were the Hungarians seen to have been pushed out of the coalition.
