The Slovak government may lose its fragile majority in parliament, Prime Minister Robert Fico warned, quoted by "Reuters".
The reason is an internal dispute in one of the smaller parties that support the cabinet.
For months, Fico has been trying to quell internal struggles in the far-right and pro-Russian Slovak National Party (SNS). Party leader Andrej Danko demanded the replacement of Environment Minister Tomas Taraba, whose candidacy was initially put forward by his party.
For his part, Taraba hinted that after leaving the cabinet, he could form a new group with other MPs from the ruling coalition, which would deprive Fico's government of a majority in the NA.
"This personnel decision by the SNS leads to the loss of the parliamentary majority. Therefore, I call on the SNS chairman and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba - who have declared support for this government - to provide guarantees for preserving the majority," Fico said.
He announced that he would withdraw his proposal to dismiss Taraba, which was submitted to the president, if an agreement is not reached within the party.