Simecka: Fico Pretends to Be Moral Standard, While Making Money from Gambling

(STVR, 'O 5 minut 12', 26 October) Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) pretends to be a moral standard, while making money from gambling and weapons, opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party leader Michal Simecka said on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday in response to the approved amendment to the Gambling Act. According to Simecka, the amendment "amoral" and attacks Slovak families. "It is a broader problem of the hypocrisy of Fico's government. On the one hand, it has a mouth full of how it wants to protect families, peace and morality, but in fact it is playing into the hands of the oligarchs behind the casinos, as well as arms producers (...), this government exports much more weapons than any other, with arms exports amounting to €1.2 billion," elaborated Simecka. He rejected criticism that the opposition could have blocked the law, since it is "the responsibility of the coalition, which had enough votes". His opponent on the show, House Vice-chair and Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko said that he couldn't vote against the amendment at Fico's request. He said that SNS doesn't want to support gambling, however, there's need to address money leaks from online casinos. "The premier's request was for this law to be passed after the budget, I did respect that, I adhered to the coalition agreement and couldn't vote against it," said Danko. He stated that if President Peter Pellegrini returns the law, the SNS will demand its "rationalisation". The two politicians also touched the current economic situation in Slovakia during the discussion. According to Simecka, it is heading towards stagnation and declining investor confidence. By leaving Slovakia's outlook negative, the international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) showed lack of confidence in the government's ability to restore public finances and kick-start growth. Danko recalled the need to identify and prevent tax evasions. The two leaders also commented on the adoption of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia and energy policy. According to Danko, the parliamentary resolution is still in place, obliging the premier not to support sanctions against the Russian Federation. "I know that it's not easy. In Brussels, he achieved the maximum from the minimum, as he at least opened the debate," he said. Contrarily, Simecka stressed that the country must prepare to cut off from Russian energy and seek alternative sources. ko