Slovak govt likely to insist on Kucera's nomination to EU first instance court

Slovakia's government will likely insist on the nomination of lawyer Michal Kucera to the post of additional judge of the European Court of First Instance, Justice Minister Gabor Gal said on Tuesday. Slovakia has had issues with occupying the post since September 2016. Kucera was the fourth candidate, however, his candidacy was refused by an advisory committee of the European Council. His predecessors, who were also rejected, were Maria Patakyova, Radoslav Prochazka and Ivan Rumana. Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said in March that he would try to find out the reasons why another Slovak candidate had been turned down. According to him, it was "not perfectly normal" that four Slovak candidates had been rejected.