Krupa: Slovakia Falling under Current Government, Blanar Rejects Criticism

(STVR, 'Sobotne dialogy', 25 October) Slovakia is falling in several areas after two years of the current government in the office, with Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) doing his utmost to rule here forever, opposition MP Juraj Krupa (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) said on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues). His opponent on the show, Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) rejected his criticism, claiming that the previous governments, which included also SaS, are responsible for the country's decay. "We have posted an absolute fall in the EU rankings in terms of education, health care, the social status of citizens, etc. So we are really sinking to the very bottom of the European Union as such. (...) We are internationally isolated, we aren't accepted at all today, we simply see that the pro-Russian policy that they are covering up, the 'policy oriented in all four cardinal directions', doesn't help us at all, but rather isolates us. We can also see it on the fact that the reaction of the European socialists was to expel Smer-SD," stated Krupa. Meanwhile, Blanar described the two years of the government's work as efforts to fix everything that previous governments have caused. "What you mentioned happened under previous governments that you supported or were a part of," he said. He called statements about Slovakia's international isolation as "a well-worn song by the opposition". According to Blanar, the country is a respected partner. He added that the Smer-SD MEPs remain working in the European Parliament as unaffiliated after being expelled from the Party of European Socialists. "I think that our MEPs are doing well in the European Parliament, and I even think that we have more space to communicate our national interests in it than in a faction that has got completely lost," noted Blanar. Blanar also commented on the Dutch Parliament's call on the Dutch government to sue Slovakia at the European Court of Justice over its constitutional changes. He finds it to be unacceptable, calling it part of the election campaign in the Netherlands. ko