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| - Slovakia's PM-designate Igor Matovic on Wednesday set combatting coronavirus infections and endemic corruption as top priorities for his centre-right coalition government as he revealed his line-up of ministers. "We're facing an extremely difficult period," Matovic told a press conference in Bratislava, adding that his administration would have "zero tolerance for corruption" amid the pandemic. Marek Krajci, a 45-year-old paediatric cardiologist who will serve as health minister, has warned that as much as two thirds of Slovakia's population of 5.4 million could contract the virus if Slovaks fail to take precautions. "We must join forces to defeat coronavirus, our common enemy," he said. Economist Eduard Heger, 43, named as finance minister in the eurozone member state, said in a recent interview he was "preparing measures to ensure businesses survive until the pandemic eases". Career diplomat Ivan Korcok, 55, will be foreign minister. Currently Slovakia's ambassador to the United States, Korcok has previously led Slovak diplomatic missions in Brussels and Berlin. Matovic told journalists on Wednesday that upon his imminent return from the US, Korcok "will wait 14 days in the quarantine" before taking up his duties. President Zuzana Caputova will swear in the four-party coalition government on Saturday, a day after parliament meets for its first sitting. MPs will be required to wear facemasks and gloves to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. Matovic's anti-graft OLaNO party ousted the populist-left Smer-Social Democracy from power last month by galvanising voter outrage over the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and the high-level graft that his death exposed. juh/mas/gd
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