Slovakia will hold early election in Sept, pro-Ukraine stance at stake

(Reuters) - The Slovak parliament approved on Tuesday plans to shorten its four-year term by five months and to hold an early election on Sept. 30 after the centre-right cabinet lost a no-confidence vote and parties failed to form a new majority administration.

The government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger lost the no-confidence vote in December after a former coalition party joined the opposition, which accuses the cabinet of not doing enough to help people with the rising cost of living.

The election will see a clash between pro-Western liberal and conservative parties and two leftist formations including the Smer party of ex-prime minister Robert Fico who opposes sending weapons to neighbouring Ukraine and has adopted a sceptical stance on Western sanctions against Russia similar to that of Hungary s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Slovakia, a NATO and EU member, has so far been a strong backer of Ukraine, supplying infantry vehicles, artillery and a battery of the S-300 air defence system.

The cabinet s fall followed years of fiery leadership of the main government party, OLANO, by anti-corruption campaigner Igor Matovic, who clinched an unexpected election win in 2020 on promises to clean up graft following a Smer-led administration.

Matovic became prime minister but soon got into a series of conflicts with his coalition partners. He was forced to step down in favour of party colleague Heger, who was seen as a calmer leader, after secretly agreeing a shipment of unapproved Russian coronavirus vaccines in March 2021.

Matovic stayed on as finance minister but his continued clashes with the libertarian SaS party chief Richard Sulik led to SaS s departure in September 2022, costing the cabinet its majority.

Opinion polls have given Smer and an offshoot called Hlas (Voice) of another former prime minister, Peter Pellegrini, a lead over the parties in the outgoing government.