Peter Pellegrini becomes new Prime Minister

On Thursday, Peter Pellegrini was sworn into office as Slovakia's Prime Minister. He will ask the Parliament to approve his Cabinet on Friday. The Government is supported by the same three parties - Smer-SD, Most-Hid and the Slovak National Party- that formed the coalition for Robert Fico's Cabinet. Fico resigned last week following massive street protests in Bratislava and other localities. Protesters were angered by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée and his reports on political corruption reaching as far as the Cabinet. The Cabinet Manifesto remains almost the same as that of the previous one, focused on economic growth and a pro-EU orientation. As part of the personnel reshuffling, Pellegrini's Government has a few new names. Richard Raši (Smer-SD) becomes the new vice-premier for investments and informatisation, Tomáš Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee) the interior minister, Andrea Kalavská (a Smer-SD nominee) the health minister, Ľubica Laššáková (Smer-SD) the culture minister and Gábor Gál (Most-Hid) the justice minister.