Political uncertainty deepened in Slovakia on Sunday, as the pro-Western interim prime minister resigned ahead of elections expected to favor the Moscow-friendly party.
Edvard Heger announced he would submit his resignation to President Zuzana Shaputova later on Sunday, two days after his foreign minister, Rastislav Kair, quit his cabinet.
Heger said in a televised address: “I decided to ask the president to remove my authority and leave space for the president to try with a government of technocrats to lead a stable and peaceful Slovakia to democratic parliamentary elections.” Reuters.
Heger, who will be elected in 2021, has been running a caretaker government since last September, when the ruling coalition lost its majority due to disagreements over energy costs.
Saputová, who has just completed a trip to London for the coronation of King Charles III, will now decide the head of the new provisional government until elections scheduled for September.
Opinion polls showed that the Smer-SD party of former Slovak prime minister Robert Fico was voters’ favorite to lead Slovakia, an EU-NATO country that borders Ukraine.
Speaking before Heger’s announcement, Fico said he would end Slovak arms supplies to Ukraine if he was elected to lead the next government.
Slovakia national parliamentary poll of opinion polls
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For more polling data from across Europe visit Politico opinion poll.
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