PS: Coalition MEPs' Influence at EP Zero, But Ours Significant

Bratislava, 9 June (TASR) - A year after the European Parliament (EP) elections, MEPs elected for the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party feel alone in fighting for Slovakia's interests at the European Union (EU) law-making body. PS representatives told a news conference on Monday that MEPs from the current coalition parties have little to no influence on what is happening at the European Parliament, and that it is MEPs from the opposition PS party who are keeping Slovakia "at the table at which negotiations are held and rules are created for the whole of Europe". EP Vice-president Martin Hojsik pointed out that no party of the currently governing coalition is a member of a European political family. "That's why they sit in the corner and have no influence on what happens at the EP or in its committees," stated Hojsik. He noted that while MEPs for PS submitted 46 parliamentary drafts during the year, Smer-SD MEPs didn't submit a single one. The same goes for amending proposals, with MEPs for PS participating in almost 4,000 of them, and those for Smer-SD taking part in only 115. PS leader Michal Simecka stated that a year after the EP elections, it is his party that, through its stances and alliances, actually represents Slovakia at the European Parliament. It's also preventing the country from falling into the isolation that the current coalition's policy is leading it into. "Today, it is up to us and our MEPs to fix damaged relations, to improve Slovakia's reputation where this government is destroying it, and to spread the message among European partners and in Brussels that Slovakia isn't just Robert Fico," stressed Simecka. ko/df