Opposition Party Launches No-Confidence Motion Against Slovak Agriculture Minister

The opposition Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS) announced Wednesday it has begun collecting signatures for a no-confidence motion against Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč. The liberal party cited what it called massive scandals in state forests, suspicious multi-million euro liming projects, and conflicts of interest at the Agricultural Paying Agency as reasons paralyzing the ministry's operations under Takáč's leadership. SaS also warned of potential risks to EU funding for the agricultural sector. SaS is a liberal opposition party that previously served in coalition governments but now sits in opposition to the current ruling coalition led by Smer-SD. No-confidence motions require majority support in the National Council, Slovakia's parliament, to succeed in removing a minister from office. The Agricultural Paying Agency manages EU agricultural subsidies and payments to Slovak farmers, making it a crucial institution for the country's agricultural sector.