Slovakia's political crisis deepens as coalition partners demand cabinet reconstruction

The political crisis in Slovakia deepened on March 4 after a member of the ruling coalition demanded reconstruction of the cabinet.  A conflict in the country emerged after Prime Minister Igor Matovic secretly ordered doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine despite opposition from his coalition partners. This irked the other members of his coalition, who eventually called for the dissolution of the current cabinet.

Read: Slovakia Signs Deal To Acquire 2 Million Doses Of Sputnik V

Read: Slovakia To Ask EU For Urgent Vaccine Delivery

Richard Sulk, head of the Freedom and Solidarity party said the situation in the coalition that “we can hardly continue this way.” He further reasoned that the coalition has evidently not succeeded in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore certain unspecified changes were needed.  Meanwhile, For the People Party, another coalition partner did not comment on the crisis but also did not rule out the possibility of leaving the coalition.

Slovakia, a member of the European Union started innovating its population in late December. However, the PM, in an attempt to speed up the process inked a deal with Russian authorities to secure 2 million doses of the vaccine. However, his move faced resistance from Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok who said that it was a “tool in Russia’s hybrid war against the West.” While Sputnik V has not applied for EU’s approval, Slovakia’s deputy PM Veronika Remisova said that any vaccine to be used in the country would require approval by the bloc.

Read: Slovakia Signs Deal To Acquire 2 Million Doses Of Sputnik V

Read: 'Most COVID-19 Deaths': Slovakia Coronavirus Deaths Surge Rapidly Due To UK Variant

Sputnik V in Europe

Slovakia is the second European Union country to use the vaccine, which hasn't been approved by the European Medicines Agency, after Hungary. It hasn't been registered by Slovakia’s drug authority, but the deal was made possible by Health Minister Marek Krajci’s approval. As of now, the European bloc has approved only three vaccines for mass use. They include the one manufactured by AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech. 

The Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is based on a modified version of adenovirus, a common cold virus. The vector stripped of its disease-causing genes and modified to carry genetic instructions for making the coronavirus spike protein. This prompts the cells to cause an immune response which eventually protects against the SARS-CoV-2.