Page 22 - Central & Southeast Outlook 2020

2.6 ​Politics - Slovakia
The eighth general parliamentary election in Slovakia since its independence in 1993 will be held on February 29, 2020.
There are hopes among the opposition that the election will bring change to Slovakia’s political environment. The opposition's goal is to replace the current senior ruling party Smer-SD, which is in a tripartite coalition with the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most-Hid, after a decade in power.
According to election polls, Smer-SD is, however, still the strongest party with up to 20% of respondents saying they would back the party, followed by the Za Ludi (For People) party led by former president Andrej Kiska, the Progressive Slovakia (PS)-Together coalition and Kotlebova-People’s Party Our Slovakia.
The election campaign will be strongly influenced by charges brought against both Kiska and former prime minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) by the National Crime Agency (NAKA). Fico is accused of defaming a nation, race and belief, and incitement to national, racial and ethnic hatred over his support for a far-right MP’s derogatory comments about Slovakia’s Roma minority. The charges against Kiska concern a tax scandal connected to his travel agency KTAG.
3.0​ ​Budget
3.1 ​Budget - Czech Republic
Both the Ministry of Finance and the Czech National Bank forecast the public budgets to remain in surplus over the forecast horizon,​ though the surpluses are likely to decline gradually. One of the reasons for this development is, according to the authorities, the gradual cooling of the economy, associated with international influences.
The general government surplus will amount to under 1% of GDP in 2020, reflecting the fulfilment of the government’s programme priorities both in the social area and in investment expenditures in physical and human capital, and a slowdown in the growth dynamics of the Czech economy.
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