Is Slovakia's pro-Russian coalition on the verge of collapse?

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico lost his temper during a press conference on Tuesday when asked about internal issues within the ruling coalition.

One reason for this reaction is that Fico's party, Smer-SD, came to power criticising the previous government for constant internal squabbles. Yet, just one year after forming the new government, Fico's coalition is already being shaken by numerous conflicts.

Another reason is that although the current disputes do not directly target Fico or his party, they are weakening the government. This is happening at a critical time when challenging tasks lie ahead.

Read more about the situation within Slovakia's coalition and whether it is facing collapse and snap elections in the article by Yurii Panchenko, a European Pravda editor – Fico's troubles: Why Slovakia's pro-Russian coalition is shaking and what this means.

The Slovak parliament has been lacking a speaker for nearly four months, which is a result of one of the coalition’s conflicts.

The dispute involves, on one side, the Hlas party and its former leader, now President of Slovakia Peter Pellegrini, and on the other, the smallest coalition member, the Slovak National Party (SNP), led by Andrej Danko.

Last autumn, it was agreed during coalition negotiations that Fico would take the prime minister’s seat, while Pellegrini would be the speaker of the parliament. After Pellegrini won the presidential election, he eventually gave up his parliamentary mandate.

This created a dilemma: who would become the new speaker?

Pellegrini and his party insist that last year’s coalition agreements should stand, meaning the new speaker should be Peter Žiga, the current deputy speaker and a Hlas representative. Danko, however, argues that Pellegrini’s presidential victory requires revising those agreements and has expressed his own ambitions to return as speaker.

Fico supports Danko’s ambitions, stating that the coalition has two options: either appoint Danko as speaker, or allow Žiga to run the parliament as acting speaker for the next few years.

This has escalated the conflict between the two coalition parties into a direct standoff between Slovakia’s president and prime minister.

Pellegrini, once seen as a politician controlled by Fico, has begun to assert his independence. The Slovak president has made it clear to the coalition that he has enough authority to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, Danko is facing issues within his own parliamentary faction. His Slovak National Party includes three members from Rudolf Huliak's National Coalition/Independent Candidates party. Huliak is setting conditions and not backing Danko’s bid for the speaker’s seat.

Additionally, it is speculated that one to three MPs from Pellegrini's Hlas might leave the coalition.

The Slovak coalition, which holds 79 seats, just three above the minimum majority of 76, has started to wobble.

At the same time, Fico needs to push through a major budget-cutting plan.

"Now is the time to undertake very painful changes, but the coalition's governance has significantly weakened," says Alexander Duleba, an expert from the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.

According to Duleba, the collapse of the coalition and the snap election can no longer be ruled out.