Slovakia

President Prime Minister	Zuzana Čaputová (Independent, since June 2019) Igor Matovič (Ordinary People, since March 2020)
Population	5,450,421 (2019)
Size	49,035 km² (18,932 sq. miles)
MEPs	14 (joined the EU in 2004)
Next presidential election Next legislative election	2024 29 February 2020
Presidency of the Council	January – June 2030
Last meeting with Boris Johnson	None held to date
Brexit priorities	The UK has been an important ally for Slovakia in pushing against more powers being transferred to the EU and in defending Eastern boarders from Russian aggression. It wants to have a unified European approach to Brexit and to make it look unattractive for other countries to leave as well. One of Slovakia’s biggest priorities in the negotiations is to ensure the rights of its citizens residing in the UK. An estimated 75,000 Slovaks currently live in the UK.
What Prime Minister Pellegrini said on Brexit	“We cannot accept that the United Kingdom would want to make only the freedom of the free movement of goods valid,” “We can respect either the full package or nothing.”
Slovakia’s priorities	The government coalition nearly collapsed after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee. Tens of thousands of people across Slovakia had been protesting against the government, which was being investigated by Kuciak in relation to corruption allegations. People were demanding a fair investigation of Kuciak’s murder. Prime Minister Fico resigned over the protests and put forward fellow Smer party member, Peter Pellegrini, to replace him. The Smer, together with the Slovak National Party and Most-Hid Hungarian minority party have a narrow 79-seat majority in Slovakia’s 150-member parliament. This government’s priorities are to relax budget cuts and increase transparency on public spending. It wants to mainly invest in health and education. The government has also stepped up efforts to tackle corruption, though many are calling for more measures to be taken. Transparency International recently ranked Slovakia as the seventh most corrupt Member State. Furthermore, the Slovak government is heavily opposed to the EU’s refugee relocation system and has formed an alliance with other Central- and Eatern European countries (Visegrad group) to block this proposal.