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Radicova: Slovak Participation in EFSF Not Open to Question (UPDATE)
Tuesday 13 July 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Brussels, July 13 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia's portion of the eurozone's multi-billion emergency rescue package isn't going to change, said Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova after talks with President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Tuesday.
However, Slovakia continues to be committed to finding an agreement on conditions whereby funds from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) would be drawn, said Radicova.
"The size of the share isn't open to question, as this would translate into re-launching the entire process. General consent is viewed as substantial political consent for tackling the situation with an emergency package," said Radicova.
"The question isn't whether or not the new Government will approve the package, as it's already been approved and confirmed, I'm only inheriting a decision of the previous Government," she added.
"(Former) prime minister (Robert) Fico and the previous government failed to negotiate better conditions for Slovakia. If Slovakia is supposed to contribute 2.3-times more in terms of GDP ratio than the wealthiest EU country Luxembourg, then it's evident that the conditions have been negotiated poorly. However, it's impossible to negotiate about the numbers today, as the current form was already approved by the Parliaments of other EU members states," Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said.
Slovakia's participation in EFSF needs to be approved by the Parliament first and signed by the Slovak President. However, the decision of these institutions is not required for signing the framework agreement, which means that Slovakia can unblock the guarantee mechanism as soon as on Wednesday – after the Government's session.
"What's being discussed is the conditions under which this mechanism will be effective for the market. We're negotiating about consolidation programmes for individual countries, bank regulation, Eurostat procedures, the banking sector's share in deficits, a revision of rating agencies and a possible opt-out of the eurozone," said the Slovak premier.
"I'll keep the new Slovak Government updated, and a session of the Coalition Council has been called for the evening (Wednesday). I'll recommend that we should consider confirming the decision made by the previous government only if conditions I've enumerated are met," she asserted.
"We won't block the mechanism, we'll decide tomorrow (Wednesday, July 14) whether to sign it or not," said Miklos. He refused, however, to specify what kind of proposal he will submit at the Government session. "It's necessary to discuss these things at the right place, not in front of microphones," he said.
At Wednesday's session, the Government will also discuss whether or not Slovakia should provide aid to Greece.
President of the Eurogroup Juncker understands that implementing such a European decision on a national level is not easy, but conveyed his hope that Slovakia will honour its commitments and participate in the financial security package. "It's difficult to persuade people at home that Slovakia should take responsibility for mistakes made someplace else, outside Slovakia. But we don't want anything like Greece to ever happen again. Everyone must understand that we need the signature of Slovakia in order to have this mechanism functional. It's up to the decision of the Slovak Government," said Juncker.
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