Slovakia’s Fico boosts power through deal with coalition partners

Slovakia’s three ruling coalition parties said Wednesday they agreed to shuffle ministries in a deal that would boost the power of Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party amidst repeated threats.

Under the agreement, the coalition’s junior partners — the left-wing populist Hlas party and the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) — will each give up one ministry to the leftist Moscow-friendly Smer.

Smer will ultimately have control of nine ministries, Hlas will have six, and the SNS two.

“Smer will use this political influence to stabilise the ruling coalition and regain its parliamentary majority,” Fico said in a post on his Facebook page.

The agreement comes after Fico’s power was threatened both by a crisis in this own coalition as well as repeated attempts from the opposition to bring forward a no-confidence vote.

The leader’s ruling coalition found itself losing its 79-seat majority after three SNS lawmakers defected from their parliamentary factions, demanding posts in government, parliament, and state institutions in exchange for returning to their seats.

Four more Hlas MPs then began to openly rebel against the government — culminating in two being expelled from the party.

Fico said that the deal made giving his party control of extra ministries would help him in negotiating with the dissenting voices, although he did not provide details on how.

In January, Fico’s power was additionally tested when opposition parties attempted to bring a no-confidence vote in the Slovak parliament.

The vote ultimately never took place after members of the opposition walked out halfway through the session over Fico’s demand to make half of the parliamentary session private.

Fico has also faced a wave of anti-government protests stemming from his controversial decision to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December last year. In late January, protesters in more than 30 Slovak cities called on the leader to resign, a proposal Fico dismissed.

The Slovak prime minister has long been critical of NATO and the European Union, and friendly towards Moscow — positions that have attracted criticism from protesters and the country’s opposition.

Recently, he has ramped up anti-Ukrainian rhetoric following a gas dispute after the war-torn country refused to renew a contract with Moscow that allowed gas to flow through Ukraine to neighbouring European countries.

The prime minister has threatened to limit electricity supplies and aid for Ukrainian refugees and implied he would be prepared to block action towards helping Ukraine at the EU level.