President: Slovakia Wounded, We Need to Calm Situation

(RTVS, ‘O 5 minut 12’, June 13)

Slovakia is wounded; it has experienced a historically unprecedented event, that is the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, President Zuzana Caputova said on RTVS’s discussion programme ‘O 5 minut 12’ (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, adding that the country needs to stabilise, calm the situation and not to run away from problems.

Caputova further stated that a number of people died because of the pandemic in Slovakia, either due to COVID-19 or other diseases. At the same time, she also pointed out the debt with non-implemented surgeries and diagnoses. According to her, the crisis affected not only health but also the social and economic situation of people.

Meanwhile, people are witnessing conflicts in politics. Some are about serious topics, but others are not, and are just personal fights. According to the head of state, Slovakia is currently facing the information from the intelligence services and the police. “What we really need is to calm the situation. We need to move forward and deal with real problems,” said the president.

Caputova sees Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) as a constructive man who is trying to mitigate conflicts in the coalition. According to the president, people are witnessing that the current governing coalition is burdened by the trauma of the previous government crisis. “It’s something that doesn’t give the Government stability,” said Caputova