KDH Calls on Government to Convene Security Council and Dismiss Finance Minister

Bratislava, 2 March (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) have called on the government to convene a session of the Slovak Security Council immediately and assess the risks of the conflict in the Persian Gulf region for the Slovak economy and households, while calling on Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to dismiss Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), TASR learnt at a press conference held by KDH representatives on Monday. "In particular, there's a need to assess the risks that this conflict will pose to the economy of the Slovak Republic and to the wallets of our citizens," said KDH vice-chairman Viliam Karas. Oil prices have risen significantly, and there is also the threat of a blockade of the Straits of Hormuz, through which a significant part of the world's oil and gas passes. KDH financial expert Jozef Hajko pointed out that the conflict has caught Slovakia in a very unpleasant economic and financial situation. In the area of energy, he noted that the country still hasn't diversified its sources of oil. "Slovakia isn't only threatened by high petrol and diesel prices, but also by the threat of literally running out of oil. We could get to that point," he said. Hajko also described the state of public finances as extremely serious. "If no serious measures are taken here, and not just the populist policies that we're seeing, then Slovakia will indeed slide down the Greek path to bankruptcy," he said. According to KDH, public finances aren't recovering, and the deficit remains at a similar level every year. "No recovery is taking place, we're still facing the same problem," said Hajko, adding that the country's debt is expected to reach €100 billion next year. He claimed that if the government had adopted proper consolidation measures earlier, it wouldn't have had to prepare further packages. KDH declared that the solution is consolidation based on government savings. "The government must finally put together a package via which it will start saving on itself," emphasised Hajko. The party has therefore submitted five draft resolutions concerning, for example, centralised purchases of energy, reducing the energy demands of buildings, limiting the purchase of government service cars to €40,000, and the consistent use of EU funds. The proposals are set to be discussed in March. am/df