Slovakia Prime Minister Igor Matovic has resigned after the government’s mishandling on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its recent controversial deal to secure COVID-19 vaccines from Russia.
Reports from the Associated Press state that Slovakia is the first European government to collapse due to its failure to handle the pandemic.
Finance Minister Eduard Heger has taken Matovic’s place and was asked by President Zuzana Caputova to form a new government.
Heger acknowledged Matovic’s resignation as a “a big gesture unprecedented in the Slovak politics.”.
“I hope that we will continue to work together for Slovakia,” he added.
The vaccine crisis came to light at the beginning of March when the previous Slovakian government pushed to secure 2 million doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine from russia, despite disagreement among coalition partners.
Matovic called on Slovaks “to forgive all the faults I committed during the year (in power).”
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine,” he said. “You can absolutely trust (Heger).”
Matovic earlier defended the Sputnik V purchase, saying it would speed up the vaccination program in one of the hardest-hit European Union countries.
