Slovakia’s Prime Minister Igor Matovic and his government resigned on Tuesday to ease a political crisis triggered by a secret deal to buy Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
It is the first European government to collapse due to its handling of the pandemic but the move will keep the current four-party coalition in power and avoid the possibility of an early election. The coalition holds a comfortably parliamentary majority.
President Zuzana Caputova accepted the resignation and asked Eduard Heger from Matovic’s Ordinary People party to form a new government.
Heger served as the finance minister and deputy prime minister in the outgoing government. Matovic, who had announced on Sunday that he would be making the move, is expected to assume the post in the new government.
The crisis erupted when a secret deal came to light at the beginning of March involving Slovakia’s agreement to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. The populist prime minister orchestrated the deal despite disagreement among his coalition partners.
With few changes, Heger’s Cabinet is expected to be the same as Matovic’s. The president might swear it in as soon as this week.
Russia Sends Medical Aid to Virus-Ravaged India
Russia will send a large shipment of medical aid to India as the country battles an unprecedented wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The shipment of coronavirus treatment drugs, ventilation equipment, oxygen supplies and other medical equipment comes “in the spirit of friendship and a particularly privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
President Vladimir Putin also mentioned the emergency aid in a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
According to the Kremlin readout of the call, Putin said Russia will send transport planes carrying over 22 tons of aid, including 20 pieces of oxygen equipment, 75 artificial ventilators, 150 medical monitors and 200,000 packages of medicine.
The state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited the Industry and Trade Ministry as saying that the 200,000 medicine packages would be the antiviral medication favipiravir.
India has registered the highest single-day Covid-19 infections of any country since the start of the pandemic in recent days, hurling the country of 1.3 billion people into a health crisis and prompting calls for foreign aid. Its official death toll surpassed 200,000 on Wednesday, but experts say the real toll may be much higher.
India is also expected to receive its first batches of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine on May 1, The Times of India reported Tuesday. The country authorized the Russian jab for emergency use earlier this month.
Starting Tuesday, all individuals arriving in Russia from India will be required to be tested for coronavirus at the airport.
