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Slovakia Government's Collapse Not Enough To End Protests Over Journalist's Murder

An investigative journalist and his fiancée were killed, sparking a political upheaval. But that failed to quell the largest protests in the Central European country since the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
A memorial to slain journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnírová, has been set up in the lobby of <a href="http://aktuality.sk/">Aktuality.sk</a>. Since they were killed, the news site's office building has been guarded by the police and private security guards.

A love story turned murder mystery led to the collapse of Slovakia's government last week. But that failed to quell the largest protests in the Central European country since 1989, when the Velvet Revolution brought down communism there.

The prime minister-designate, Peter Pellegrini, who was a deputy to his predecessor, Robert Fico, is now scrambling to form a new government to calm the situation. Pellegrini's original picks for his cabinet were rejected by the president and he plans to discuss new names on Wednesday.

Pellegrini is also hoping to restore public trust in his political party Smer-SD or Direction - Social Democracy — a successor to the communists — as well as the other factions that form Slovakia's governing coalition.

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