President of the Slovak Republic Appointed Members of the New Government Cabinet

President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič appointed Smer-SD leader Róbert Fico as the Prime Minister.

Róbert Fico underlined that his government would be pro-European oriented and respect the commitments resulting from the membership of the European Union, NATO and other organizations. “I am fully aware of how important it is for Slovakia to comply with the Maastricht and Stability Pact criteria,” stressed the new Prime Minister. He added that the Slovak Republic is now perceived as a country having a high standard of human rights and rights of ethnic minorities. “Regardless of who is in the new Government coalition, to maintain this high standard and to develop it for the benefit of all citizens of the Slovak Republic will be the Government’s obligation,” said the new Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic. He pointed out solidarity, social justice and an economically effective social state as the priority of the new Government.

In his address, President Ivan Gašparovič said that creating the Government shortly after the elections was good news. At the same time, he highlighted the effectiveness and matter-of-factness of the negotiations leading to signing the coalition treaty. He appreciated the fact that the Government was constituted by the winner of the elections.

As he said, our political scene has been becoming standard and European. „Following the constitutive session of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, you will seek its confidence by your Programme Declaration. I am really very pleased that the whole process took place in line with the Constitution, complying with all written and non-written acts and rules. I appreciate that we did not lose a single day or hour constituting a new coalition government. In connection with this I would like to pay tribute to all political parties.

A new government is always connected with high expectations and hopes. Our citizens deservedly want a positive change in their living conditions, and partners abroad intensification of cooperation. Demands on the new Government will certainly be high, and our citizens presented them already during the election campaign. As for me, I put my expectations into two words: continuity and solidarity. These two words contain my personal message to the new Government.

Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to turn to the citizens of Slovakia as well as the opposition and media. Let’s give the Government the standard forty days and assess it, also in the future, by its acts. Let’s try to suppress our tendency to criticize and complain already in advance. Let’s think positively and give the new Government a chance to implement its programme, by which we will give a chance to ourselves too,” said President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič in his address to the members of the new Government Cabinet.