Slovakia's government is under strong pressure before the presidency of the EU Council which begins on July 1. Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák faces accusations regarding alleged involvement in tax fraud, the smallest government party Sieť is experiencing turmoil and Slovakia will lead the EU during its biggest crisis since its establishment after Brexit. President Andrej Kiska calls for stability. "First of all, we have the presidency. We need a stable Government, and even if an early general election took place, the Opposition has to realise that it wouldn't be so easy to just replace the current Government and govern," said Kiska.
The president also commented on the case of Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. Kaliňák is about to face a second no-confidence motion in less than 3 weeks on Thursday. Also, the opposition has organised two protests and promised their weekly repetition until Kaliňák steps down for allegedly covering up and cooperating with tax fraud suspect Ladislav Bašternák. Kiska said he discussed the case with Prime Minister Fico, Kaliňák and Police Corps president Tibor Gašpar. "I've told them my opinion. It's up to the Government and the prime minister to draw a conclusion from it. In his State of the Republic speech two weeks ago, the president indirectly backed the opponents of the interior minister. However, none of the coalition members displayed any doubts regarding the Interior Minister's position in the government.
Moreover, 5 out of the 7 remaining MPs in the smallest coalition party Sieť declared they no longer trust their chairman Radoslav Procházka, informed TASR on Tuesday. Béla Bugár, the leader of another coalition Most-Híd party said it's important that the governing coalition has the support of all Sieť MPs. The rebelling MPs have created their own platform supporting the government manifesto. They have also spoken about undemocratic methods of leadership, a lack of communication and self-reflection, and a tendency to blame others for failures. The party will hold an extraordinary congress at which its members will elect a new leader, on August 13. Prochazka didn't say whether he'll run for the post again.
