Fico: We're Not Considering Opposition Motion to Support Anti-Russian Sanctions

Bratislava, 12 July (TASR) – The Slovak government is not considering the resolution, proposed by opposition, that aims to bind the government to support anti-Russian sanctions, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated at a press conference on Saturday. He responded this way to comments made by opposition MP Vladimira Marcinkova (SaS), saying that the opposition proposal lacks legal legitimacy. „What the opposition MPs submitted has no legal legitimacy, no binding legal force. We are not considering it,” Fico said. The Prime Minister claimed the opposition submitted the resolution outside the framework of the Act on Cooperation Between the Government and Parliament in EU Affairs with the sole purpose of causing harm. „The motto of the Slovak opposition is to do harm from morning till night,” Fico added. Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) also referred to the legislation, stating that the opposition "has no idea what it’s doing." He stressed that the legal authority to approve binding positions on EU matters lies solely with the European Affairs Committee of the House. “That still stands. What they submitted is outside the scope of what we’re dealing with,” said Blanar. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs issued a similar statement on Friday (11 July) in response to Marcinkova’s comments, reiterating that it is the European Affairs Committee that is authorized to adopt Slovakia’s official positions on legally binding EU acts discussed at the level of government representatives. Marcinkova had stated on social media that the opposition submitted a resolution to Parliament regarding EU sanctions against Russia. According to her, the resolution was intended to compel the government to support the sanctions, even without being debated. She pointed out that if one-fifth of MPs propose a resolution on EU affairs, it becomes binding for the government if no changes are adopted within two weeks or if no newer resolution is passed. mf