PS: EC Has Sent Two Letters to Slovakia, Country Might Lose Money from EU

Bratislava, February 12 (TASR) - The European Commission has addressed a total of two letters to Slovakia in which it warned the government that the country might lose money sourced from the EU, as the recent approval of an amendment to the Penal Code was contrary to EU law, representatives of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) claimed on Monday. According to MEP Martin Hojsik, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders sent a letter to Slovakia on the day on which Parliament held a vote on the amendment, demanding that the amendment shouldn't be discussed via fast-track proceedings. Hojsik at the same time claimed that the EC hasn't found the similarities between the amended Penal Code and its counterparts in the Czech Republic and Austria that the government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD) keeps mentioning. "The EC has repeatedly sought dialogue. It even pointed out in its letter sent on January 24 that it analysed the legal systems of neighbouring EU-member countries and found no similar criminal penalties anywhere. This is how the governing coalition tried to shamefully defend the move even before the Commission," said Hojsik. PS leader Michal Simkecka called on Justice Minister Robert Susko (Smer-SD) to go public with communications between the EC and Slovakia and take political responsibility for ignoring the Commission's reservations. The party reported last week that the EC has suspended the appraisal of Slovakia's request for a fourth recovery plan payment. This concerns more than €900 million that the country could lose, warned PS. zel/df