SLOVAKIA: Robert Fico has abjured extremism and says he will steer a steady course, but his critics are far from convinced, writes Daniel McLaughlin
Slovakia's new prime minister Robert Fico came under fire from European politicians and economists yesterday before taking office at the head of a coalition that includes a far-right party and a former authoritarian nationalist premier.
Mr Fico has vowed to help Slovakia's poor without damaging its robust growth, guide the country towards adoption of the euro at the optimum time and govern with a steady hand that is not swayed by extremism.
But having signed a coalition deal with the Slovak National Party of Jan Slota, who regularly rails against the country's Hungarian and Roma minorities, and with the 1990s authoritarian ruler Vladimir Meciar, Mr Fico is struggling to win round his critics.
"We consider the positions of at least one of your coalition partners incompatible with core social democratic values, including the respect of ethnic minority rights and democracy," the Party of European Socialists wrote to Mr Fico yesterday, expressing its "gravest concerns" about the ruling alliance.
The letter did not state whether the Socialists had particular fears about Mr Slota or Mr Meciar, who forged a coalition in the 1990s and turned Slovakia into what then US secretary of state Madeleine Albright called "a black hole at the heart of Europe".
Mikulas Dzurinda, the outgoing prime minister, helped haul Slovakia into the EU and Nato and made it a magnet for foreign investment, but he lost a June 17th election after failing to convince people that he was doing enough to end poverty and corruption.
Mr Fico and Mr Slota have suggested a moratorium on privatisations and a cautious approach to Slovakia's target of 2009 for adopting the euro, while also promising to pump more money into social spending.
Such comments have worried economists, who are used to praising the flat tax rate and other incentives that have brought scores of international investors to Slovakia and put it on course to be the world's biggest per capita carmaker by 2010.
"The reason for market nervousness is mainly the risk of a change in the business environment, an increase in the public finance deficit, as well as a possible delay in euro adoption," said Juraj Kotian, an economist at Slovenska Sporitelna Bank.
New finance minister Jan Pociatek insisted, however, that Slovakia could remain on an even keel. "We want to help the poorer citizens, but not at the price of a higher budget deficit and postponement of euro adoption," he said. "Meeting the euro adoption plan is my number one priority."
"The outgoing government has to a large extent ignored the needs of those who aren't so well off, so the focus of public spending will be redirected toward poorer citizens," Mr Pociatek added. "This will be my second priority."