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Radicova: I Expect that EU Will Respect Slovakia's Decision on Greece
Thursday 12 August 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - I assume that representatives of the European Union respect Slovakia's democratic principles, so they also will respect the voting in the Slovak Parliament concerning the financial assistance to Greece, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said on Thursday.
Slovak Parliament on Wednesday refused to provide the loan to the indebted country, which should have reached more than €800 million in the scope of next three years.
"The decision is based on principles, values and (it has been) well-known for a long time. It's an outcome of conscience and a vote by freely-elected MPs," said Radicova at the meeting with the Tripartite (representatives of government, trade unions and employers).
According to Radicova, the EU should respect elementary principles of parliamentary democracy. Therefore she doesn't expect that any reactions in form of sanctions against Slovakia will follow. "There's nothing Slovakia should be sanctioned for, as it fulfils all its commitments and shows solidarity from the beginning. We contribute to the International Monetary Fund, to the development aid, as well as to the EU Funds," she stressed.
The European Commission, criticised Slovakia for refusing to provide Greece with a loan. "I can only regret this violation of solidarity within the eurozone. I expect that finance ministers of the eurozone and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will come back to this issue at their upcoming session," said EU Commissioner for Economic and Currency Affairs Olli Rehn in his statement.
Finance Minister Ivan Miklos on the same day repeated that he doesn't view the financial assistance to Greece as an example of solidarity. "Solidarity of the poor to the rich, of the responsible to the irresponsible, of taxpayers to bank owners and managers - it isn't solidarity in our point of view," said Miklos, adding that Slovakia isn't violating any international agreements when refusing to lend money to Greece.
Parliament decided on Wednesday that Slovakia won't provide Greece with a bilateral loan following the Government's recommendation on the issue. The former government led by Robert Fico (Smer-SD) agreed to Slovakia taking part in a rescue package totalling €110 billion provided by the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. The new Cabinet (SDKU-DS, Freedom and Solidarity/SaS, the Christian Democrats/KDH and Most-Hid) that emerged from the June general election has re-evaluated Slovakia's stance on the matter, however.
On the other hand, Parliament almost unanimously approved Slovakia's participation in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which will reach almost €4.4 billion in the form of potential guarantees. Out of the 142 MPs present, 140 lawmakers voted in favour of the EFSF.
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