Rudolf Huliak (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Government-making process stalled by a problem named Huliak. Amid fears that prosecution of crimes committed under previous Smer governments, police officers seek whistleblower status to prevent them from getting fired. And read a first-hand report of what the life in the eastern-Slovak village struck by an earthquake looks like.
If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.
The Huliak conundrum
The future ruling coalition has unveiled all the names that premier-in-waiting Robert Fico has proposed to President Zuzana Čaputová.
We now know that the defence department should be led by Robert Kaliňák, whom Fico once dubbed the “best interior minister Slovakia has ever had” – but who was forced to step down following the 2018 murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, over grave suspicions of mismanagement and malpractice in the police force and other state institutions.
We also know that Juraj Blanár has been nominated as foreign affairs minister. I explained in the previous edition of Last Week in Slovakia why this is another eyebrow-raising nomination.
So far, unfortunately, so normal.But then come the nominations that are so bizarre that a raised eyebrow in response is simply insufficient for anyone who genuinely wants to see institutions do their job and the state to function on a rational basis.
