'Slovakia' Party: EC Report on Rule of Law Extremely Negative for Slovakia

Bratislava, July 25 (TASR) - This year's report of the European Commission on the state of the rule of law is extremely negative for the Slovak Republic, stated the opposition 'Slovakia' party, criticising Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) Cabinet in this connection. "The European Commission in its report confirmed that the rule of law has never been worse than under the current government of Robert Fico, since the era of Meciarism [named after former prime minister Vladimir Meciar, who lost power in 1998]. It thus held up a mirror to the government of Smer-SD, Voice-SD and the Slovak National Party (SNS), showing a distorted image of Slovakia, for which this government is responsible," noted party's presidium member Milan Vetrak. The European Commission on Wednesday (July 24) issued a total of seven recommendations for Slovakia in its latest annual report on the rule of law in the EU-member states. The recommendations for Slovakia concern, among other matters, the independence of the members of the Judicial Council, the powers of the prosecutor-general and the submission of legislative proposals to regulate lobbying. The EC also recommended Slovakia to ensure effective and independent investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. ko/mcs