Coalition party will decide Slovak government’s fate

Significance

The president’s statement reflects a widespread crisis of trust in the government a week after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was found shot dead with his fiancee Martina Kusnirova. It was the first known murder of a journalist in Slovakia. While the opposition has demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak and his police chief Tibor Gaspar, the coalition government’s stability is most severely threatened by resignations within its leading party, Direction-Social Democracy (Smer-SD), and its moderate coalition partner, Most-Hid.

Impacts

• Relations between the government and the non-party president will deteriorate following the latter’s call for early elections.
• The international spotlight has again been thrown on the state of the rule of law and corruption in Slovakia.
• Despite concerns, Slovakia continues to attract FDI, particularly into the automotive sector.
• Slovakia’s continued fast GDP growth (the European Commission forecasts 4% for 2018) may buttress support for the government.