Former Slovak PM and ex-interior minister scuffle on election campaign trail

Slovakia's Finance Minister Igor Matovic speaks to the media as refugees fleeing from Ukraine arrive in Slovakia, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, February 26, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File photo

(Reuters) - Former Slovak prime minister Igor Matovic and ex-interior minister Robert Kalinak scuffled on Wednesday after Matovic crashed an outdoor campaign event of Kalinak's SMER-SSD party.

Matovic is an anti-graft campaigner whose OLANO party won the last election in 2020 but who ultimately was ousted as prime minister due to ruling coalition frictions. He has long accused SMER-SSD and its leaders including Kalinak and three-time premier Robert Fico of being corrupt and sees them as his main adversaries. SMER-SSD leaders deny such accusations.