The three largest Slovak parties have changed the make-up of their lists ahead of June's elections to the European Parliament.
Social Democrat selected
The governing social democratic party SMER-SD (a member of the Party of European Socialists; PES) has selected Boris Zala, chair of the Slovak parliament's foreign affairs committee, to head the party's list.
Zala received sharp criticism for his recent lengthy absence from parliament, during which time he spent several weeks in Oxford learning English ahead of the upcoming elections and continued to receive a salary as a member of the Slovak parliament. In an effort to pour cold water on the scandal, Zala has agreed to forgo a month's salary.
SMER-SD must also decide if it is to put MEP Monika Flašíková-Beňová on its list. Flašíková-Beňová currently heads the Slovak delegation to the PES, having led the Slovak party's list in the last European elections. However, the MEP is currently experiencing strained relations with her party's leadership, and her position on the list is by no means guaranteed.
Slovakia's EPP-ED parties
The main opposition, the Slovak Democratic Christian Union/Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS), part of the EPP-ED group in the EU assembly, has chosen Eduard Kukan to lead the party in the EU elections. Kukan has had previous high-profile experience, notably as foreign minister and Kofi Annan's special envoy to the Western Balkans. This is expected to be the 69-year-old's final campaign.
Kukan's addition moves the current head of the Slovak delegation to the EPP-ED and former ice-hockey star, Peter Štastný, to second place on the list. However, "it will be the voters who decide on the leader," stated a confident Šťastný.
The other Slovak EPP-ED party, the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) has placed former education minister and current MP, Marc Fronc, at the top of its list. The previous list leader, Anna Záborská, has been demoted to third place, with the remaining MEP, Jan Hudacký, placed in second. Following the announcement of the party's decision, Záborská said she could not decide whether she was "disappointed or excited by the challenge".
SMK, unlike its Slovak partners in the EPP-ED, opted for the same leader as 2004: Edit Bauer. Her colleague Árpád Duka-Zólyomi is the only one of the current 14 Slovak MEPs not seeking re-election.
Floating parties
Among the parties with no affiliation in the European Parliament, the governing coalition's centre-right Movement for Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS) list remains unchanged from the last election, with Sergej Kozlík once again the leading candidate. HZDS is seeking membership of the ALDE group.
There was a great deal of speculation over whether the Slovak National Party's (SNS) chairman, Ján Slota, would stand in the election. The coalition party has instead decided that he should lead the party's formation in the national election next year, with Dušan Švantner, secretary of state for transport, leading the party in the Parliament election. If elected to the EU assembly, SNS plan to join the Union for European of Nations group (UEN): an idea that was welcomed by Cristiana Muscardini, co-president of the UEN.
