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Before the vote: Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger
Photo: Jaroslav Novak / dpa
In Slovakia, the minority government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger was overthrown by a vote of no confidence.
In the parliament of the capital Bratislava, 78 out of 150 deputies voted in favor of a motion of no confidence from the liberal party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS).
Until the beginning of September, the SaS itself was still part of the governing coalition.
Who will rule in Bratislava in the future now depends primarily on President Zuzana Čaputová.
Until a new coalition is formed, it can provisionally instruct the fallen government to continue its work.
However, Čaputová can also set up a government of experts or commission another politician to form a government.
Most recently, Heger was only in office as head of a minority government of three parties.
The opposition accused him of doing too little to counteract the energy crisis and inflation, increasing poverty and the rising number of refugees.
Richard Sulik of the liberal Freedom and Solidarity party, which left the centre-right government in September, told journalists after the vote that his party would "support the government restructuring".
Heger's government has "lost confidence."
His party is particularly opposed to Finance Minister Igor Matovic remaining in the government.
Former Economics Minister Sulik often clashed with former Prime Minister Matovic before the coalition broke up.
The finance minister offered Heger his resignation on Thursday to avoid a vote of no confidence.
However, he had refused.
New elections are currently not possible
In addition, the Liberals are united with their former partners in supporting Ukraine against Russia's war of aggression.
In other parts of the opposition, however, the prevailing view is that Slovakia should behave more neutrally.
According to the dpa news agency, the possibility of calling new elections now, which is possible in other countries, is currently prohibited by the constitution.
The constitutional court confirmed this last year and at the same time suggested changing the regulation.
A referendum scheduled for January 21 has long been obstructed by the previous governing parties.
Slovakia, which was part of Czechoslovakia together with today's Czech Republic until the fall of the Wall, has been a member of the European Union and NATO since 2004.
Dam/dpa/AFP