Monitor: Danko: Lucansky to Run for Zilina Region Governor as SNS Candidate

(STVR, 'O 5 minut 12', 21 June) Speaking on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman Andrej Danko said that his party will field its MP Adam Lucansky as its candidate for governor of the Zilina self-governing region, while the party's candidate in Presov region will be announced next week. "I appreciate that Lucansky is an SNS member," he said, noting that it depends on the party's coalition partners whether Lucansky receives support. He also reiterated that the party's slate will be composed of SNS members only. Meanwhile, his opponent on the show, MP and opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Branislav Groehling, said his party would run independently in the next parliamentary election without joining any electoral blocs. He ruled out the possibility of former finance minister Ivan Miklos and former MEP Lucia Duris Nicholsonova joining the SaS candidate list, adding that he's not aware of any party members planning to leave SaS in order to join former party chairman Richard Sulik. He also doesn't want to cooperate with the Hungarian Alliance. Danko said he had no intention of bringing down the government, although he disagrees with some of its policies. "I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable in this government because my enthusiasm is fading, as I believe we could have achieved more over the past three years," he said, adding that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) doesn't know how to treat coalition partners and destroys them politically. The SNS leader said he has no information about who will replace Tomas Taraba (an SNS nominee) as environment minister in September. As for a successor to MP Miroslav Radacovsky, Danko has four candidates in mind and plans to speak with them first. He also stressed that he wouldn't tolerate any nepotism in his party. Furthermore, he is due to meet Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) on Wednesday (24 June) to discuss next year's budget, noting that a balanced budget is not possible. According to Groehling, drafting the budget will turn into a "bloody fratricidal battle" because everyone will want to "grab something" for themselves. He warned that Slovakia is heading down the same path as Greece and called for cuts in state expenditure, a reduction in the number of civil servants and a targeted 13th pension payment, noting that taxes shouldn't be raised and should instead be capped. jrg