Last Week: Opposition tries to sack the “minister of revenge”

Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Interior minister faces a no-confidence vote shortly after being confirmed in his post. Fico visits Prague and says he won’t go to Kyiv. Pellegrini would win the first round of the presidential election if it was held now.

If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.

Šutaj Eštok keeps MPs busy

Never before in the history of the Slovak parliament has the opposition tried to oust a minister so soon after the government received the confidence of MPs.

“Opposition MPs are going to try and see whether someone from the coalition hasn’t changed their mind in the last 48 hours,” Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok commented on the extraordinary session that the opposition initiated in order to debate his performance during just his first month in office.

Šutaj Eštok was appointed by the president, together with the rest of the ministers of the cabinet of Robert Fico, on October 25. The government then had 30 days to propose a programme statement and ask parliament to approve it by means of a simple majority in a confidence vote. That happened on Tuesday, November 21, when the coalition tested its majority in the house for the first time. The programme statement passed with the support of 78 MPs (out of a total of 150). Subsequently, the opposition filed a motion of no confidence in the interior minister, a move they had previously signalled in response to his early moves.