President: Referendum on Sanctions against Russia Can't Be Declared

Bratislava, 4 June (TASR) - A planned referendum on sanctions against Russia can't be declared, President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference on Wednesday. "The Slovak Constitution places the responsibility for ensuring that declarations of referendums are constitutional and lawful on the president. If the president finds that any of the prescribed constitutional and legal conditions for holding a referendum haven't been met, he cannot declare it, and this is the case with the petition that I've been assessing in recent weeks. Therefore, I repeat, the referendum in question simply cannot be declared," stressed Pellegrini. The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement (SHO). The movement wanted the president to announce a referendum with the following question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and businesses?” With the referendum, the movement wanted to put pressure on the Slovak government when negotiating in Brussels. Its representatives claim that sanctions against Russia are harming Slovakia in the form of huge economic losses. Under the Slovak Constitution, the president must call a referendum if at least 350,000 citizens request it via a petition. The president has 30 days from the submission of the petition to do so. For a referendum to be quorate, more than 50 percent of eligible voters must participate, and a majority of those voters must support the proposal. ko/df