Slovak President Kiska decides not to seek re-election

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Slovak President Andrej Kiska says he will not seek a second term in office in next year's presidential election.

The 55-year-old Kiska announced his decision Tuesday, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.

Kiska, a successful businessman-turned-philanthropist, was a political newcomer when he beat then-Prime Minister Robert Fico in the 2014 presidential election to take over the largely ceremonial post.

The pro-European and pro-western Kiska often clashed with Fico, considered a populist leader.

Earlier this year, Kiska supported the huge street protests that led to the fall of Fico's coalition government amid a political crisis triggered by the February slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee.

The reporter, Jan Kuciak, was investigating possible widespread government corruption and Italian mob influence.