(ANSA-AFP) - BRATISLAVA, MAR 24 - Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic came under intense pressure Wednesday to step down over his handling of the Covid crisis after the president called for him to resign and several ministers quit the cabinet. Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok and Education Minister Branislav Grohling both announced they were resigning on Wednesday in a dispute that is tearing up the four-party coalition government. Six ministers, including the health minister, have left the 16-member cabinet so far at a time when Slovakia is struggling to cope with what is currently the third highest Covid-19 death rate in the world. Matovic's critics accuse him of poor communication and political missteps during the crisis and his decision to buy Russia's Spoutnik V vaccine proved highly divisive within his own government. Korcok called the vaccine "a hybrid war tool". President Zuzana Caputova on Tuesday joined the calls for Matovic to resign saying it was "essential" that he step down to end the political crisis.

(ANSA-AFP).