Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (l) met his Slovak counterpart, Juraj Blanár, on December 5 in Malta. (source: TASR/AP )
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Government politicians are continuing to strengthen their ties to Russia. Striking doctors are being threatened with prison terms if they walk out on patients. The state budget has been passed.
If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.
Playing Russia's game
How far are Slovakia's ruling politicians willing to go when it comes to Russia?
Too far, but (at least for now) not all the way. Head of Slovak diplomacy Juraj Blanár had to take a step back at the end of last week when the Russian state newswire TASS published a report stating that Slovakia is "intrigued" by the idea of developing a Eurasian security framework, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presented at an international conference in Minsk.
The conference was attended by Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjártó, but not by Blanár, whose ministry scrambled on Friday evening to deny that Slovakia had taken part in the conference or that it had shown any interest in Lavrov's project.
