Sme Rodina chair Boris Kollár meets President Zuzana Čaputová in the Presidential Palace on March 3, 2020. (source: Sme)
This is your overview of news from Slovakia on March 3.
Follow the complete election coverage at this link.
President Zuzana Čaputová met with the leaders of three parties with whom Igor Matovič, chair of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), is open to forming the new government, namely Richard Sulík (SaS), Andrej Kiska (Za Ľudí), and Boris Kollár (Sme Rodina).
The Washington Post reported on Slovakia's 2020 parliamentary election.
All of those four parties are relatively young, and the oldest was formed just a decade ago. Their organisation and appeals are leader-focused with an anti-corruption and good governance pitch to voters at the heart. As our forthcoming book, The New Party Challenge,” suggests such recipes might deliver short-term success, but they rarely provide for long-term endurance.“
Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (SaS) will not leave the European Parliament to serve as MP in the Slovak parliament, as Nicholsonová confirmed at a press conference. Juraj Droba (also SaS) will not take the post either, and will remain the governor of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region.
The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok cancelled a planned court proceeding with far-right Kotlebovci – People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) chair Marian Kotleba, concerning the controversial cheques worth €1,488. The session was to be held on March 4, 2020. Kotleba apologised for not being able to attend the session but insists on the session being held in his presense. The session is scheduled for March 5, the SITA newswire reported.
The Party of Hungarian Community (SMK) chair József Menyhárt and other members of its leadership resigned. The Hungarian Community Togetherness (MKS), which included SMK members on its slate in the February 29 election, won the support of 3.90 percent and failed to make it to the parliament.
The Bratislava II District Court ordered the Konšpirátori.sk website to remove the conspiracy Hlavnespravy.sk website from the internet until a verdict is issued. The association respects the court's action but added the website does not belong to a list of conspiracy websites, it wrote in a blog post.
The specialised team of the National Criminal Agency (NAKA), named "Elektro" and made up from 100 police officers, raided the Mochovce nuclear plant as part of the operation titled "Atóm". The raid was carried out in relation to criminal proceedings involving fraud related to the completion of the plant's third and fourth blocs, the police wrote on Facebook.
None of the 211 samples that were tested for the coronavirus tested positive. The Health Ministry said no COVID-19 has been confirmed.
Expected events for March 4
President Zuzana Čaputová should assign Igor Matovič, chair of OĽaNO, with assigning the new government.
Incumbent PM Peter Pellegrini is expected to attend a special summit of V4 prime ministers in Prague, where they will discuss the spread of coronavirus in Europe, the situation in Turkey and the new EU financial framework.
Also on Spectator.sk today:
