The coalition remains stable, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated on Tuesday following the approval of the 2026 state budget, noting that 79 MPs voted in favour of the proposal and that they included members of the governing coalition as well as Independent MPs aligned with Tourism and Sport Minister Rudolf Huliak (Independent).
"The political message that 79 members of Parliament – that is, the entire governing coalition formed in 2023 – supported the state budget, and had previously backed the consolidation law, is at this moment the most important thing. It confirms the stability of the governing coalition," stated Fico.
The Prime Minister reiterated that his government inherited the worst public finances in the EU but aims to pass them on to the next government in 2027 "in a normal state", enabling Slovakia to be seen as a credible financial partner and an attractive destination for investment.
Despite the fiscal consolidation measures, Fico highlighted that the government managed to increase funding for the Health and Education Ministries, maintain the 13th pension payment, and uphold existing social standards He said that in the coming year the government will focus on key decisions related to slimming down public administration.
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According to the opposition, the 2026 budget is poorly designed and will stifle Slovakia's economic growth, which is why they unanimously rejected it.
The opposition says the coalition-backed budget will not restore public finances but will instead impoverish people, increase the national debt and set Slovakia on 'the Greek path'.
Progressive Slovakia (PS) labelled the approved budget as the worst in the country's modern history. "People will gain nothing from it – they're tightening their belts for no reason. By the end of this government's term, after three rounds of belt-tightening, every citizen will owe €5,000 more than when this coalition came to power. That's roughly by how much ministers increased their own monthly salaries when they took up office. The public debt is hitting record highs, the deficit is growing, and people's living standards are worsening," said PS MP Stefan Kišš.
The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) stated that despite annual consolidation packages, the government is shifting the burden onto ordinary people, sole traders, employers and municipalities. "The government isn't cutting back on itself. If we look at the third consolidation package and the state budget proposal, any supposed austerity affecting the government is illusory. We can see no clear outline of how the government plans to save on its own operations – we can see manipulation of the numbers," said MP Jozef Hajko (KDH).
Julius Jakab from the 'Slovakia'–Za ludi parliamentary caucus also commented. "We're witnessing the worst budget in the history of the Slovak Republic, based on completely unrealistic figures. The Slovak economy is in total collapse, prices are the highest in the EU, and poverty levels are the worst in our history. That is this government's legacy with this bankruptcy budget. A million people can't save even a single euro and are left wondering how they'll feed their families and children tomorrow."
SaS claimed that the 2026 budget will harm every citizen, sole trader and business. "The budget will increase taxes and levies, discourage investment, kill our competitiveness and harm the entire country. It's built on unrealistic figures, as confirmed by the Council for Budget Responsibility. It's also based on targeted falsehoods and a distortion of economic reality," said MP Marian Viskupič (SaS).
The Centre Initiative, an association of regional and municipal politicians from Banska Bystrica region, has criticised the fact that the process of adopting the public administration budget for 2026 took place without a proper dialogue with local authorities.
Representatives of local authorities from Banska Bystrica region said that next year's state budget was adopted without any wider professional and social discussion. "Local authorities learnt about the government's intentions via a presentation on a social network posted by the Finance Ministry. In this case, we can't speak of a budget discussed, but rather a budget imposed," said the initiative.
The regional politicians respect the fact that there are different political and expert views on budget priorities, but it's crucial for local governments to have realistic budget forecasts. "Bad estimates have a fatal impact on road repairs, running schools, social services, cleaning, lighting, the functioning of cultural stalls, not to mention development projects and the co-financing of projects from EU funds," stated chairman of Banska Bystrica self-governing region Ondrej Lunter.
Source: TASR
