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not saying goodbye at all. We will see each other soon at press briefings and as a head of the strongest party I will be part of the coalition council,” Fico said. “I am not leaving, I will be an active chairman of the political party,” he added with a wide smile.
In an effort to calm down the situation, Pellegrini said in an interview with
“I want to inform the president of min- isters’ names tomorrow or Tuesday and I want parliament to start a discussion on the new government’s programme on Tuesday or Wednesday,” Pellegrini proclaimed.
Aside from the anti-government protests, pressure is also mounting for the resignation of the Police Corps presi-
public remain in their posts," added Gabor Gal of Most-Hid.
Pellegrini declined to comment on a potential change to the Police Corps president. "If we commented on it,
we would show that the Police Corps president's strings are being pulled by politicians. The new interior minister will have to have an opinion on his replacement or whether he stays in the post," Pellegrini stated.
Moreover, Italian businessman Antonino Vadala, who was named in a posthu- mous article by Kuciak into alleged mafia infiltration of Fico’s government, was taken into custody again on March 13 in connection with drug crimes.
“With the European arrest warrant, the Italian court is demanding the extradition of Antonino Vadala for criminal prosecution in Italy for a drug crime committed by an international organised crime group,” said Andrea Predajnová, spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s Office.
“The revolution started by the parents has to be finished by their children”
privately-owned Markiza TV on March 18, that he wants a non-polarising government and does not want either
a long-time member of the ruling Smer party or a person with limited experi- ence to be appointed as interior minister.
"A lot of names are being mentioned. However, it should not be any high- ranking official of the party. It must be an experienced person. I personally encourage my party mates to seek a person who will not have to familiarise himself with the given sector for a month or two. This government will not be eligible for a 100-day [orientation period]," said Pellegrini.
dent Tibor Gaspar. Even the coalition partners of Smer-SD, the centrist largely ethnic Hungarian party Most-Hid and the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), called for Gaspar’s resignation.
"If I were him, I would no longer be
in that post," stated Radovan Balaz of SNS on TA3's programme In Politics. "It's undesirable and unimaginable that people who are so distrusted by the
“The arrogance of a few powerful people will not defeat us, we will do it together”
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Poland's PiS
puts centrist
face forward as Morawiecki shakes up cabinet
Wojciech Kosc in Warsaw
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party car- ried out a major reshuffle of the government on January 9, replacing most controversial ministers with more moderate appointees.
The reshuffle appears to be an attempt by PiS to move the government to a more centrist position
Bulgaria to apply to enter Eurozone waiting room in first half of 2018
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
Bulgaria will most likely apply to enter the Euro- zone’s waiting room, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2), in the first half of 2018, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said on January 11.
An application to enter the ERM2 during Bul- garia’s six-month presidency of the EU Council
The scope of the changes indicates Morawiecki has been allowed a lot of manoeuvring room by PiS’ chairman and de facto decision maker, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
ahead of three successive elections in the coming years. Getting rid of some of the most unpopular and contentious ministers could bolster the ruling party ahead of an important local election due in the autumn. The local election will be followed
See page 2
was already expected. In December, the country got a positive signal from Brussels that it might be accepted in the ERM2 as Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission’s Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, said that it would not be
See page 3
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