Social Democrats of Czech Republic and Smer party of Slovakia pledge mutual help in election campaigns

The Social Democrats and their Slovak counterparts signed a cooperation agreement on Sunday in which they pledge to help each other ahead of general elections next year in their respective countries. The Slovak opposition party Smer, headed by Robert Fico, wants to highlight the successes of the Czech centre-left party as a contrast to what it deems the shortcoming of Slovak reforms put in place by the centre-right coalition of Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. Czech Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said Czech and Slovak politicians may appear at joint rallies in the future.