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Fico Won't Sign EU Guarantee Package Without Centre-Right Agreeing
Friday 18 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 18 (TASR) - Unless the four centre-right parties that have won a parliamentary majority and are set to govern for the next four years commit themselves to the support for the EU guarantee package designed for troubled European economies, current Finance Minister Jan Pociatek won't unblock the financial mechanism, it was announced Friday afternoon in Bratislava.
However, if they do consent, the departing Government is ready to sign the framework agreement on this matter immediately, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Fico on Friday asked leaders of the centre-right four for an immediate meeting concerning the future of the €750-billion EFSF, a legal instrument that EU member countries agreed on in May in order to ensure financial stability across Europe and preserve the euro.
The centre-right parties said they wouldn't come to the meeting, saying that there's nothing to talk about, and that it is the current Government that has full powers to decide how Slovakia is going to proceed in this matter.
"Responsibility is clearly in the hands of parties which are now in the process of forming a new Government," said Fico, adding that the centre-right four (SDKU-DS, SaS, KDH and Most-Hid) is undermining Slovakia's credibility in Brussels.
According to Fico, European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday strongly called on Slovakia to come to terms with the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
By only formally signing the unblocking documents, and without all those involved in the current political guard-changing in Slovakia agreeing on this, Slovakia would cause an international scandal, claims Fico. He also reiterated that the guarantee mechanism has nothing to do with the loans Greece received.
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