Opposition: Premier Should Sign Letter Addressed to Vladimir Putin (2)

Bratislava, 13 March (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) should sign a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin from the Slovak opposition parties, chairman of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Michal Simecka, MP Frantisek Miklosko (Christian Democrats/KDH) and vice-chairman of the extra-parliamentary Democrats Juraj Seliga told a briefing on Friday. They were responding to Fico's call for the leaders of parliamentary parties to add their signatures to a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Fico asks Zelenskyy to resume the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine. "We, opposition parties, reject this manipulation. We propose that the coalition should co-sign a letter that we, the opposition parties standing here, have drafted. The letter will be addressed to Vladimir Putin, because the instigator of the conflict [in Ukraine] is Vladimir Putin. He decided to send tanks, drones and missiles to Ukraine. That bloody war has been going on for more than four years. It was his decision to start bombing oil infrastructure in Ukraine. It was as a result of this bombing that the Druzhba pipeline was damaged, and that's why Slovakia is facing problems with oil supplies today," said Simecka. "If Robert Fico wants to address this issue, we're ready to cooperate, but let's join together in calling on Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine and to immediately agree to a peace deal, which, by the way, Robert Fico talks about very often. I therefore call on the coalition leaders to join us in signing this letter," added the PS chairman. According to KDH leader Milan Majersky, Robert Fico is in power, so he must take action. "He won't get our signatures on his alibi letter. Instead of trying to shirk responsibility and cowardly hide behind the opposition, Fico must address the public's problems, high prices and the issues facing hauliers. KDH won't assist the premier in his political show. We call on him to finally start governing properly and take full political responsibility for the state of the country, or, if he can't handle it, to step down and stop harming Slovakia," added the KDH chairman. Leader of the opposition 'Slovakia' party Igor Matovic stated the he'd "gladly sign Fico's resignation letter". "Robert Fico should stop embarrassing himself. He's had plenty of opportunities to travel to Ukraine and meet President Zelenskyy face-to-face. He now wants to cover up his fear and incompetence with some fig-leaf in the form of a letter. The only document I'd gladly sign alongside Fico is a proposal to shorten the current government's term," added Matovic. Fico has called on the leaders of the parliamentary parties to append their signatures to his letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking him to resume Russian oil transit via Ukraine. If the Druzhba pipeline is damaged, Fico also asked Zelenskyy to allow an inspection team from the European Commission (EC) and the affected countries to assess the extent of the damage, while also urging him to accept the EC's offer to finance any necessary repairs, along with Slovakia's offer to provide its repair capacities. The premier has published the letter on social media. The prime minister has already stated that representatives of the coalition parties will sign this letter, but the opposition parties are unlikely to join this call. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraph 6. am/df