Eastern Europe
Slovakia gets three new ministers and a minority government
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova at a press conference in Kosice’s historic town hall. photo
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
A coalition crisis recently escalated in Slovakia, neighboring Ukraine. President Caputova is now filling three new offices – but it is unclear whether she will be able to govern with her minority cabinet.
After a coalition crisis, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova has sworn in three new ministers. The replacements had become necessary because the liberal party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) left the four-party coalition at the beginning of September. The four liberal ministers had also announced their resignation, which the President officially accepted on Tuesday.
While the ministries for foreign affairs (Rastislav Kacer), economics (Karel Hirman) and justice (Viliam Karas) were filled with non-party experts, the education ministry was temporarily taken over by conservative Prime Minister Eduard Heger himself. Over the next few days, however, he will propose a new education minister , he explained. Without SaS, the other three parties no longer have a majority in parliament and need the support of a section of the opposition for every legislative decision.
On Tuesday evening, the Liberals, who had left the government, did not want to rule out preventing the first plans of what is now the minority cabinet in parliament on Wednesday.