THE LEADERS of the Slovak National Party (SNS) and the Real Slovak National Party (PSNS), meeting on May 17 in Žilina, agreed that the congress to cement their long-expected merger will take place on May 31, also in Žilina.
The leader of the SNS, Anna Malíková, told the press after the meeting that the SNS wanted to begin unifying nationalist politics in Slovakia.
Ján Slota, her counterpart in the PSNS and the mayor of Žilina, confirmed his unequivocal support for the merger, after which the new party, to be named the Slovak National Party, should take in other nationalist forces such as Slovak National Unity.
The PSNS was formed in 2001 from a Slota-led parliamentary faction of the SNS that broke away from the party in protest at Malíková's leadership methods. Both parties are trying to reform a united SNS, which used to boast over 8 percent support in the early 1990s.
