Government & politics — Slovakia

• history: several previous (preindependence); latest passed by the National Council 1 September 1992, signed 3 September 1992,
• effective 1 October 1992 amendments: proposed by the National Council; passage requires at least three-fifths majority vote of Council members; amended many times, last in 2020

• chief of state: Pres
• ident Zuzana CAPUTOVA (since 15 June 2019) head of government: Prime Minister Robert FICO (since 25 October 2023); Deputy Prime Ministers Robert KALINAK, Denisa SAKOVA, Tomas TARABA,
• and Peter KMEC (all since 25 October 2023) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on th
• e recommendation of the prime minister elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election first round 23 March 2024 with a runoff on 6 April 2024 (next to be held in 2029); following National Council elections (every 4 years), the president designates a prime minister candidate, usually the leader of the party or coalition that wins the most votes, who must win
• a vote of confidence in the National Council election results: 2024: Peter PELLEGRINI elected president in the second round; percent of vote in first round - Ivan KORCOK (independent) 42.5%; Peter PELLEGRINI (Hlas-SD) 37%; Stefan HARABIN (independent) 11.7%, other 8.8%; percent of vote in second round Peter PELLEGRINI (Hlas-SD) 53.1%; Ivan KORCOK (independent) 46.9%;
• PELLEGRINI will takeoffice on 15 June 2024 2019: Zuzana CAPUTOVA elected president in second round; percent of vote - Zuzana CAPUTOVA (PS) 58.4%, Maros SEFCOVIC (independent) 41.6% 2014: Andrej KISKA elected president in second round; percent of vote - Andrej KISKA (independent) 59.4%, Robert FICO (Smer-SD) 40.6%

Description

unicameral National Council or Narodna Rada (150 seats; members directly elected in a single- and multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

Elections

last held on 30 September 2023 (next to be held by 2027)

Election Results

• percent of vote by party - SMER-SSD 23%, PS 18%, Hlas-SD 14.7%, OL'aNO 8.9%, KDH 6.8%, SaS 6.3%, SNS 5.6%
• seats by party SMER-SSD 42, PS 32, Hlas-SD 27, OL'aNO 16, KDH 12, SaS 11, SNS 10
• composition as of February 2024 - men 116, women 34, percent of women 22.7%

• highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 80 judges organized into criminal, civil, commercial, and administrative divisions with 3- and 5-judge panels); Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of 13 judges orga
• nized into 3-judge panels) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judge candidates nominated by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, an 18-member self-governing body that includes the Supreme Court chief justice and presidential, governmental, parliamentary, and judiciary appointees; judges appointed by the president serve for life subject to removal by the president at age 65; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Council of the Republic and appointed by the president;
• judges serve 12-year terms subordinate courts: regional and district civil courts; Special Criminal Court; Higher Military Court; military district courts; Court of Audit;

• Alliance-Szovetseg or A-S [Krisztian FORRO]
• Christian Union or KÚ [Anna ZABORSKA]
• Civic Conservative Party or OKS [Ondrej DOSTAL]
• Democrats [Eduard HEGER]
• Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SSD [Robert FICO]
• For the People or Za Ludi [Veronika REMISOVA]
• Freedom and Solidarity or SaS [Richard SULIK]
• Life National Party or Život–NS [Tomáš TARABA] (formerly Christian Democracy - Life and Prosperity - Alliance for Slovkia)
• New Majority or NOVA [Gábor GRENDEL]
• Ordinary People and Independent Personalities - New Majority or OLaNO-NOVA [Igor MATOVIC]
• People's Party Our Slovakia or LSNS [Marian KOTLEBA]
• Progressive Slovakia or PS [Michal SIMECKA]
• Republic [Milan UHRIK]
• Slovak National Party or SNS [Andrej DANKO]
• Voice - Social Democracy or Hlas-SD [Petr PELLIGRINI]
• We Are Family or Sme-Rodina [Boris KOLLAR] (formerly Party of Citizens of Slovakia)

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one par
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission

Ambassador Gautam A. RANA (since 28 September 2022) embassy: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava mailing address: 5840 Bratislava Place, Washington DC 20521-5840

telephone

[421] (2) 5443-3338

FAX

[421] (2) 5441-8861

Email address and website

• consulbratislava@state.gov
• https://sk.usembassy.gov/

chief of mission

Ambassador Radovan JAVORCIK (since 18 January 2021)

chancery

3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 237-1054

FAX

[1] (202) 237-6438

Email address and website

• emb.washington@mzv.sk
• https://www.mzv.sk/web/washington-en

consulate(s) general

Los Angeles, New York