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Prime Minister Eduard Heger (L) with members of his newly formed party, Demokrati
It is almost unheard of that a serving prime minister should leave his own, governing party mid-office in order to found a new one. However, this is precisely what Eduard Heger, prime minister of Slovakia has just done encouraged by his two fiercely anti-Hungarian ministers, Karel Hirman and Rastislav Kácer.
At a press conference on Tuesday Heger had introduced his new party called Demokrati (Democrats), and his departure from the former governing party OLANO. He was joined by the current Minister of Defense, Jaroslav Nad (also formerly OLANO), and two ministers known for their vicious attacks against the government in Budapest, Foreign Minister Rastislav Kácer, and Economy Minister Karel Hirman. Both Kácer and Hirman are known for their bizarre outbursts regarding alleged Hungarian revisionism and territorial claims, as well as their absolute loyalty towards the current power structures in Washington and Brussels.
In an hour-long speech Heger had outline his vision for his new party with the words “decency” and “rule of law” dominating his narrative, along with the emphasis on solidarity with Ukraine. According to observers though, the split is a result of a long-standing struggle between him, and Finance Minister, former Prime Minister, Igor Matovic. While Matovic wanted to see their party remaining a centrist, anti-corruption and financially fiscal movement, Heger tried to move the party to the left, towards more progressive policies. Also in contrast with his predecessor, who was an advocate of the Visegrad 4 regional cooperation between Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Czechia, Heger had seen the ties with its conservative neighbors, especially Hungary, as an obstacle towards his Euro-Atlantic political ambitions.
The Hungarian parties in Slovakia have protested against the Foreign Minister Rastislav Kácer’s hateful statements against Hungarians. Photo: Facebook, Szövetség-MKP platform
Despite founding a party called Democrats, only recently Eduard Heger’s government’s democratic credentials have been called into question for creating a future “Cultural Draft” for Slovakia that completely disregarded the existence of the sizeable national and ethnic minorities living on its territories. The Hungarian party in Slovakia, Alliance (Szövetség), had strongly criticized the Heger government for creating a new cultural vision for the country without any consultation with political representatives of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Hungarians living in its territories. Alliance have launched a petition calling for a consultation with minorities in creating a future vision for the country.
Featured Photo: Facebook Eduard Heger