BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovak President Andrej Kiska called Sunday for substantial changes in the country’s coalition government or for an early election to resolve the “serious political crisis” the country is facing after the slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee. The bodies of 27-year-old Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova were found Feb. 25 in their house, shot dead. In his last unfinished story, Kuciak reported on the influence of the Italian mafia in Slovakia and its possible ties to people close to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. A junior party in the ruling coalition and the opposition have both called for Interior Minister Robert Kalinak to resign — a call that Kalinak, who has been linked to an earlier corruption scandal, has rejected. A former Italian anti-mafia prosecutor has said that Italy tried to warn Slovakia about the increased influence of the Italian mafia there.

Source: National Post March 04, 2018 16:07 UTC