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Last Week in Slovakia

Last Week in Slovakia is a commentary and overview of news in Slovakia that The Slovak Spectator subscribers receive in their inboxes every week as part of The Slovak Spectator online subscription.

Subscribers also receive a pdf with an overview of news and have access to all of our online content. By subscribing you are helping us provide news about Slovakia you can trust. 

Last Week in Slovakia

What is the point of the current vaccination registration system?

PM Eduard Heger was vaccinated in Bratislava during the first weekend of May. He received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Know-how acquired by people working with excluded Roma communities could help to get the rest of the country immunised quicker. 3. máj3. May 2021, at 14:04
Last Week in Slovakia

Heger cabinet rediscovers government’s lost compass

PM Heger, Defence Minister Naď and Foreign Minister Korčok (left to right) arrive to the press conference.
OĽaNO leader Igor Matovič had cast doubt on Slovakia’s loyalty to its allies, but the Heger cabinet uses an opportunity to do the right thing. 26. apr26. Apr 2021, at 14:11
Last Week in Slovakia

Test-obsessed Slovakia opens up, though most elderly are still not immunised

As of Monday, hairdressers are among the businesses allowed to open for clients after a four-month-long lockdown.
What does the government need to do to make this post-lockdown opening Slovakia’s last? Sputnik, still at the centre of attention, is not the answer. 19. apr19. Apr 2021, at 13:42
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Last Week in Slovakia

Matovič demonstrates how to dismantle everything in two days

Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) between his trips to Moscow and Budapest.
OĽaNO politicians seem to think they are applying the highest political virtue. Could they be more wrong? 12. apr12. Apr 2021, at 13:03
Last Week in Slovakia

Heger will seem boring after Matovič. Thank heavens for that

President Zuzana Čaputová appoints the cabinet of Eduard Heger.
The new prime minister could give Slovakia exactly what it needs right now. 5. apr5. Apr 2021, at 11:21

A straight swap resolves Slovakia’s scrapes – for now

PM Igor Matovič and his potential successor, Finance Minister Eduard Heger.
Ordinary prime minister bestows forgiveness, Heger is to become prime minister, Sulik will cook for Matovič again. 29. mar29. Mar 2021, at 13:43
Last Week in Slovakia

Slovak PM stages a pre-breakup festival of pettiness

PM Igor Matovič said he was ready to step down, but only if his partners oblige to the conditions he laid out.
Matovič says he is willing to leave the top job. But a look back at his government's first year shows he wants to take some of the best ministers down with him. 22. mar22. Mar 2021, at 13:20
Last Week in Slovakia

Matovič-style political “innovation” keeps the coalition off-balance

Marek Krajčí (left) and Igor Matovič leave the Presidential Palace after Krajčí officially handed his resignation to the president.
Health minister belatedly steps down, but it may not be enough to avoid reshuffle – or collapse. 15. mar15. Mar 2021, at 13:16
Last Week in Slovakia

For Slovakia, one crisis is not enough

Health Minister Marek Krajčí (left) and PM Igor Matovič (both OĽaNO) welcome the first Sputnik vaccine doses in Slovakia.
Amid the mounting pressure to step down, the prime minister muffed the one thing his government has been fairly good at. 8. mar8. Mar 2021, at 13:04
Last Week in Slovakia

Lessons from one year with a (very) ordinary PM

PM Igor Matovič says lockdown is still in play.
Not everyone ‘grows into the job’. 1. mar1. Mar 2021, at 13:00
last week in Slovakia

Matovič’s latest crisis response is to woo anti-system voters

PM Igor Matovič and Health Minister Marek Krajčí
Also this week: The coalition loses an MP, Sputnik creates new splits in the coalition, and some good news about the economy. 22. feb22. Feb 2021, at 14:13
Last Week in Slovakia

Slovakia tightens seal on borders as country breaks Covid records

Vaccination of teachers under 55 using the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine in Žilina.
Government cites the new variants spreading in Europe as the reason. Hospitals still under strain, vaccination of teachers finally underway. 15. feb15. Feb 2021, at 11:58
Last Week in Slovakia

The worst of pandemic politics in Slovakia now on display

French President Emmanuel Macron holds an umbrella as Slovakia's PM Igor Matovič speaks to the media before a working lunch at the Elysee Palace on February 3, 2021 in Paris.
Also this week: the floating Sputnik, Lipšic heads the office he founded, and employees can bid farewell to meal vouchers if they want to. 8. feb8. Feb 2021, at 13:09
Last Week in Slovakia

Vaccination is a story that requires some editing

Organised crime charges fly high during an eventful week for the police and judiciary. 1. feb1. Feb 2021, at 12:42
Last Week in Slovakia

Matovič government takes after Smer in lawmaking

Gábor Grendel (OĽaNO), Juraj Šeliga (Za Ľudí), and SaS MPs Marian Viskupič and Jana Bittó Cigániková.
The second-largest testing scheme of the whole population is underway in Slovakia. Government says they ordered enough vaccines. Layoffs of transnationals in Bratislava. 25. jan25. Jan 2021, at 13:05
Last Week in Slovakia

A swab instead of a jab. The renamed testing kicked off

Košice
The government spent the week deciding about nationwide testing. Lockdown is starting to show in infection numbers, experts say. 18. jan18. Jan 2021, at 12:48
Last Week in Slovakia

Deputy PM travelled freely from the UK, so did the new strain

Matovič government ministers waiting to enter the Presidential Palace on March 21, when the cabinet was officially appointed.
The strain first found in southern England now complicates the already complicated epidemic situation in Slovakia. Sme Rodina minister gives an unconvincing explanation. 11. jan11. Jan 2021, at 12:15
Last Week in Slovakia

The year of the vaccine started with a stricter lockdown

Vaccination rollout in Slovakia.
Some hospitals are on their last legs. A prominent suicide puts the government's future at stake. 4. jan4. Jan 2021, at 13:43
Last Week in Slovakia

Coalition copes with COVID and crisis

Economy Minister Richard Sulík
PM calls economy minister an idiot and demands his resignation. He and several ministers test positive one day later. Former economy minister of Pellegrini's cabinet is in hot water. 21. dec21. Dec 2020, at 13:04
Last Week in Slovakia

It'll be a lockdown Christmas in Slovakia

A closed terrace in Bratislava.
Mitigation rules for Christmas holidays not enough, government's advisors call for a lockdown. State budget, pension changes, judiciary reform, and new GP takes office. 14. dec14. Dec 2020, at 12:15
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