A "formality" ordered by the court
On Wednesday the Constitutional Court issued a binding interpretation: the government was obliged to request a vote of confidence "without delay" after public debt, according to Eurostat, exceeded the threshold set by the constitutional act on budgetary responsibility. The cabinet had been putting off this obligation since autumn 2025. We covered the debt brake mechanism and the whole course of the dispute in a separate article. Parliament Speaker Richard Raši (Hlas-SD) convened an extraordinary session for Thursday at 10:00. Denník N ↗Different newsrooms read the same ruling differently. SME summed it up in its morning briefing as "the government's ignorance ran into the Constitutional Court." SME ↗ ta3 and Postoj reported it factually and procedurally — when, where, and what was being voted on. ta3 ↗ Postoj ↗ SITA put Fico's own message in the headline: "It's nothing, it's just a formality." SITA ↗
The coalition sounded calm. The chair of the SNS parliamentary caucus, Roman Michelko, said he believes in unity during the vote, and SNS chair Andrej Danko declared that "the prime minister need not worry about the confidence vote." ta3 ↗ TASR ↗ The opposition (Milan Majerský, KDH) has signaled it will vote against. Constitutional lawyer Marián Giba warned before the ruling that the word "without delay" means an obligation, not an option. ta3 ↗
On the same day, however, the court also helped the government: it rejected the petitions of former president Zuzana Čaputová and the opposition and ruled that the amendment to the competence act does not conflict with the constitution. HN ↗ So in a single day the cabinet suffered both a defeat and a win.
Nepotism coming back to haunt Fico
While the government dealt with the confidence vote, the second major topic of the week was accusations of nepotism within Smer. The Slovakia movement published a document bearing the prime minister's signature which, according to the movement, relates to a bonus paid to Fico's son Michal. Startitup ↗ Czech and Slovak media alike noted that Fico's own earlier statements about nepotism are now coming back to haunt him. iDNES ↗Commentary tones diverged. The conservative Štandard wrote that the case "doesn't have the scale of the Šimečka affair, but it is clientelism" — warning against both downplaying and exaggerating it. Štandard ↗ Aktuality.sk was sharper: a commentary there wrote that "Slovakia is exporting shame" by sending former politician Miroslav Radačovský as ambassador to Cyprus. Aktuality.sk ↗ Another commentary from the same outlet was more sober — arguing that if Smer's biggest problem were the bonus paid to Michal Fico, "he would deserve every cent of it." Aktuality.sk ↗ SME, meanwhile, noted that a new head of the state energy company SEPS is being sought precisely at a time when accusations of nepotism within Smer are resonating. SME ↗
Attribution matters here. According to Aktuality, an investigator has proposed charging "a Smer oligarch" — but this is a proposal, not a final verdict. Aktuality.sk ↗ The opposition party SaS described the appointment of both Radačovský and Peter Kmec as ambassadors as "political horse-trading within the coalition." STVR ↗
A parliament that prefers to postpone
The third thread of the week is less dramatic but perhaps most telling: the coalition postponed dozens of decisions. Lawmakers closed the regular session and pushed more than a hundred agenda items to September. SME ↗ According to Denník N, the postponed items include abolishing postal voting, an amendment to the Arts Support Fund, and stricter rules for dismissing ministers. Denník N ↗ According to SME, abolishing postal voting was complicated by lawmakers aligned with Rudolf Huliak. SME ↗The Slovensko.sk portal is a separate problem. According to ta3, it risks collapse, while a report from the intelligence services cast doubt on claims made by Investment Minister Samuel Migaľ, who faces criticism and a possible dismissal motion. ta3 ↗
Under the radar
In eastern Slovakia, heads of district offices rebelled against an order from Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas) to relocate their offices; one of them speaks of major pressure. Korzár ↗The state fined battery maker InoBat half a million euros — while simultaneously preparing €145 million for an industrial park for the company's factory, Denník N reported. Denník N ↗
KDH is asking why Slovakia needs three military hospitals, and the coalition blocked a parliamentary committee session on the hospital in Prešov. SITA ↗ Pravda ↗
Lawmakers aligned with Rudolf Huliak have not given up on the idea of repatriating Slovak gold from the United Kingdom either. Pravda ↗
What hotinfo is watching
- Today at 10:00, the result of the confidence vote. On paper the coalition has a majority; we're watching the actual vote count and whether anyone in coalition ranks breaks ranks.
- The debt brake dispute. Fico insists he refuses a balanced budget — so conflict with the constitutional rules could recur.
- The case of Michal Fico's bonus and the ambassadorial appointments (Radačovský, Kmec) — whether further documents or legal steps emerge.
- The fate of the items postponed to September — postal voting, the Arts Support Fund, stricter rules on dismissing ministers.
- The Brussels summit. Prime Minister Fico is due to meet the new Hungarian prime minister, Péter Magyar, and V4 partners; we're watching whether Slovakia's stance on Ukraine and the EU shifts. Aktuality.sk ↗
