Former interior minister Ivan Šimko. (source: TASR)
Interior Minister Ivan Šimko has left his post after just two months in Slovakia's technocratic government, with Prime Minister Ľudovít Ódor blaming a breakdown in trust between Šimko and police leaders for the move.
President Zuzana Čaputová revoked Šimko's mandate on Wednesday, with the ministry entrusted to the PM.
"Trust between Ivan Šimko and the wider leadership of the police has been damaged in recent weeks and it was impossible to restore it despite negotiations and great effort on the part of the President and myself," Ódor said.
The move follows recent social media posts by Šimko about the police, which included one in which he wrote that "the hands of people with pistols and handcuffs must not be untied".
Police Corps President Štefan Hamran, National Crime Agency (NAKA) head Ľubomír Daňko, and other senior police officials had threatened to resign if Šimko remained in place.
According to the SME daily, police leaders disagreed with Šimko on personnel issues and on approaches to some sensitive cases, and had different views on political control over the police force or how the minister should obtain information from the police.
As Ódor's government is a technocratic one, ministers cannot be dismissed. After their mandate has been revoked, they can be replaced by any of the remaining cabinet members.
