#SLOVAKIA: Pres. Fico Vows "Significant" Aid To Ukraine a For Removing Landmines

[world politics news]

Slovakia wants to assist Ukraine in the field of demining territories, particularly by providing relevant equipment, stated Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during a press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"We discussed cooperation in the military sphere, where we offer significant assistance in demining. This includes specific demining machines. There is a great discussion here about special machines, agricultural machinery that can be used precisely for this purpose," noted Fico.

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#SLOVAKIA: PM Fico Says Slovkia Rejects New WHO Pandemic Treaty

[world politics news]

A week ago, during an hour-long speech at the SMER party conference, of which he is chairman, Prime Minister Robert Fico said he will not support strengthening the powers of the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) at the expense of sovereign states in the fight against pandemics. “Only insane pharmaceutical companies could come up with such nonsense,” he told the more than 400 guests, ambassadors, delegates and party members.

Fico was appointed as Slovakia’s Prime Minister for the fourth time on October 25, 2023 after his SMER – Slovenská Sociálna Demokracia (“SMER”) Party won the election on September 1, and formed a coalition with the centre-left HLAS – Sociálna Demokracia (“HLAS”) and nationalist Slovenská Národná Strana (“SNS”) parties.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Pro-Russia Ex-PM Win Majority in Parliament

[world politics news]

Slovakia’s populist former prime minister, Robert Fico, who campaigned on a pledge to end military aid to Ukraine, has said his position “has not changed” after his party’s clear election win made him favourite to lead the country for a fourth time.

Fico told reporters he was waiting for Slovakia’s president to give him a mandate to start forming a government – expected on Monday – after officials said on Sunday that Smer-SD had scored 22.9% in Saturday’s vote with 99.98% of ballots counted.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Parliament Votes To Allow Sweden, Finland Into NATO

[world politics news]

Slovakia's parliament last Tuesday ratified the entry of Finland and Sweden to NATO, becoming one of the last countries to back the military alliance's expansion. The vote Follows Portugal's Parliament voting "yes" to the two countries entering on Sept.16th.

Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO this year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NATO's 30 members have been ratifying their entry since accession protocols were signed in July. With Slovakia's vote, only Hungary and Turkey remain to approve the expansion. Turkey's President, Recep Erdogan Renews Threat to Block the NATO Bids of both Sweden and Finland.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Two-Week National Lockdown Ordered As Cases Spike

[world politics news]

Slovakia began a two-week lockdown on Thursday as new COVID-19 cases have spiraled out of control, Economy Minister Richard Sulík said Wednesday.

The central European nation followed neighboring Austria, which locked down all unvaccinated people earlier this week.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Sulík said all restaurants and shops will be closed for 14 days, except for essential stores, such as groceries and pharmacies.

“We all wish and hope that the situation will improve by then,” he said. “We will evaluate the situation again in 10 days.”

Photo: A protest against COVID-19 measures in Košice, Slovakia, on September 1, 2021

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Health Minister Resigns To Save Coalition Gov't

[world politics news]

Slovak Health Minister Marek Krajci resigned on March 11 as Prime Minister Igor Matovic battled to save his faltering coalition government, which is crumbling under the stress of handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slovakia is currently suffering the second worst daily death rate in the world and the government has come under great criticism for failing to get a grip on the problem. Just recently the crisis came to a head when the prime minister procured 2mn doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, despite the opposition of his coalition partner the For the People party. Sputnik V has yet to receive approval by the EU's European Medicines Agency. 

Krajci, of the prime minister's populist OLaNO party,  said his resignation was a condition of the junior centre-right coalition parties For the People and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) remaining in the government. He plans to step down gradually. 

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Parliament Votes Down Istanbul Convention On Violence Against Women

[world politics news]

Shortly before Feb. 29 general elections, the Slovak parliament rejected the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women by a crushing majority of votes, with many expressing concern that the document promoted a left-wing ideology at odds with Slovak society.

Slovak politicians indicated that several provisions of the convention clashed with Slovakia's constitution, particularly regarding the definition of marriage between a man and a woman, and concerns that the document was promoting "gender ideology".

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Parliament Overrides President's Veto Of Gambling Legislation

[world politics news]

Slovakia's National Council has voted to override Pres. Andreja Kiska’s veto which would have prevented the country’s new gambling act from coming into effect. A total of 86 deputies in the 150-member parliament voted to overrule the President’s veto.

The new gambling legislation covers a variety of rules and regulations for online and land-based gambling, including opening its online gambling market to international operators across the European Union for the first time and effectively ending the online gambling monopoly of the state-owned national lottery operator TIPOS.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#POLAND: "Visegrad" Nations And Croatia Seek To Form Central European Army In 2019

[world politics news]

The Visegrad Four countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) will form a joint European army group that will become operational in the second half of 2019, Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benko told Hungarian media after a meeting with his V4 counterparts. Benko said the Hungarian government considers paramount the safety of Europe, a position shared by all the members of the Visegrád Group.

Benko also said Croatia - not a member of the group - has offered to join the initiative and the offer was accepted by the V4. Croatia will participate in this group with a dozen staff officers. The new military force comes at a time when Germany and France are speaking more strongly about creating an "EU army," something the more Euro-Skeptical and independence-minded Central European nations reject.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SLOVAKIA: Far-Right Pty Wins Seats In Election; PM Fico's Pty Seeks To Form Gov't

[world politics news]

The People’s party – Our Slovakia group led by Marian Kotleba, the governor of central Slovakia, took 8% of the vote, nearly three times more than polls had predicted. The rise of opposition parties makes Prime Minister Robert Fico's task of forming a new government with his anti-immigrant, socially conservative Smer Party more difficult.

Pictured: Center, Marian Kotleba, head of The People's Party - Our Slovakia.

#SLOVAKIA: Central European Nations To Meet, Plan Response To Refugee Quota System

[world politics news]

Slovakia is hoping to forge a common position with three other central European states on tackling the migrant crisis engulfing the continent, which would include rejecting any EU quotas for redistributing refugees. PM Robert Fico said he would meet with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland this weekend in Prague to discuss the crisis. The four countries form a group inside the EU known as the Visegrad Four.

#SLOVAKIA: Small Town Votes 97% Against Hosting Refugees; Defies Gov't Deal With Austria To Share Burden

[world politics news]

The small southwestern Slovak town of Gabčíkovo voted 97% against placing a refugee camp within its borders. The Slovak government recently made an agreement with Austria on placing 500 refugees seeking asylum in Austria on a temporary basis at the Gabčíkovo branch of the Slovak University of Technology.

#SLOVAKIA: PM Robert Fico Says "70% Chance" Of Wider Conflict In Ukraine

[world politics news]

Slovak PM Robert Fico says there's a 70% chance of a wider military confrontation in Ukraine, saying it was largely a conflict between the US and Russia. An opposition spokesman called his remarks "a dangerous simplification that obscures the fact that Russian soldiers, not American," were occupying Ukrainian territory.

#SLOVAKIA: Feb. Referendum Will Ask Voters About Same-Sex Marriage, Gay Adoption, Sex Ed

[world politics news]

A Feb. 7 Slovak referendum drafted by a conservative group will decide whether to allow same-sex marriage and gay adoption, and whether parents have the right to keep children from sex education classes. Earlier this year, the constitution was amended to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

SLOVAKIA: Left-leaning Direction - Social Democracy Party Set to Win Parliamentary Elections