Slovakia: president gives party leader mandate to begin coalition talks

Slovakia: president gives party leader mandate to begin coalition talks

The Smer-Social Democracy Party, lead by Robert Fico, won the most votes in the elections.

Meanwhile, Fico's office said the first talks will be held with the leader of the hardline nationalist Slovak National Party, Jan Slota and Vladimir Meciar, former autocratic Prime Minister and the head of The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, the AP reports.

Slota has made numerous derogatory statements about Slovakia's national minorities and Meciar's heavy-handed rule in the 1990s pushed Slovakia into international isolation.