Slovakian ‘political crisis’

Slovak President Andrej Kiska called for substantial changes in the country’s coalition government or for an early election to resolve the ‘‘serious political crisis’’ resulting from the slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee. His rival, Prime Minister Robert Fico, dismissed the president’s proposals. For his last unfinished story, 27-year-old Jan Kuciak reported on the influence of the Italian mafia in Slovakia and its possible ties to people close to the prime minister. The journalist and fiancee Martina Kusnirova were found fatally shot in their house on February 25. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in dozens of Slovak cities Saturday to honour Kuciak, with some demanding the resignation of Fico’s government.