Slovakia

The eagerly awaited parliamentary elections in Slovakia are all over. Igor Matovič, the expected new Slovakian Prime Minister, became the clear winner with his anti-corruption movement “Ordinary People and Independent Personalities” (OĽaNO).

Igor Matovič, the leader of OĽANO, had been appointed to establish a new governing coalition and the talks between parties that passed the threshold started. SMER-SD and ĽSNS will be in the opposition, while Matovič is negotiating with Sme-rodina, Za ľudí, and SaS.

With the parliamentary elections approaching, Slovakia is facing an unprecedented situation of uncertainty. The elections are held after four challenging years, marked by the murder of the journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, and number of subsequent anti-government protests.

The current Vice-President of the European Commission Mr. Timmermans openly says that a minimum wage of 60% of the median wage should be paid in the EU. In addition, the European Commission launched consultations with trade unions and employers on EU minimum wage rules in January.

The Visegrád Cooperation is not nearly as united and indissoluble as the Hungarian Government wishes to present it. Member states often have conflicting interests which are pursued to the detriment of each other and cooperation.

The Liberals are looking to the next parliamentary elections in Slovakia with hope, but also with concern. This is pretty much picture of the mood in the country at the moment. The elections to the Slovak National Council, a unicameral parliament with 150 MPs, will take place on February 29, 2020.

Slovak public has recently experienced number of front-page stories about patients, who were refused payment for innovative highly expensive drugs by health insurance companies. Stories, which attracted a lot of emotions and stirred the public and which are vanguard of much bigger future troubles in public healthcare.

If you are one of those fascinated by the Internet and its influence on the society, this is the book for you. Progress without Permission is a complete guide to the world where Airbnb rescues the dead capital and it competes with the state in the regulation making process.

Slovakia is a small country. It cannot afford to be uneducated. Still, the country has been sinking in the PISA rankings that measure “smartness” by comparing results of educational systems. Many small countries rank ahead of Slovakia.

The Slovak pension, education, and health systems and services should not depend on the government holding power at any given time. Instead, a fundamental political consensus is required. Better than calls from abroad for Slovakia to behave more rationally, the nation itself must come to its senses.