Constitutional Court suspends law on cutting communist pensions

The Slovak Constitutional Court decided on Wednesday to suspend the law that strips representatives of the former communist regime of ill-deserved benefits. The law, approved by Parliament in June 2021, was challenged in the court by opposition lawmakers. The Constitutional Court will still examine whether the legislation is constitutional. The law, which aims to cut pensions for representatives of the erstwhile communist regime and security forces, was criticised by opposition Smer-SD, with reservations also being voiced by President Zuzana Čaputová. The coalition lawmakers claimed that the legislation is meant to ensure justice, as former communist officials enjoy excessive pensions, whereas pensions of individuals that were persecuted by the communist regime are quite low. The opposition argues that the law decreases the pensions even of those who worked for the communist party but had nothing to do with politics.