Agriculture Ministry: Payments for Farmers and Rural Development Not in Peril

Bratislava, 28 April (TASR) - No payments for Slovak farmers or rural development are in peril, said the Agriculture Ministry's communications department on Tuesday in response to claims made by the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) on Monday (27 April) in connection with the Agricultural Payment Agency's (PPA) accreditation. "The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, along with the Agricultural Payment Agency, strongly reject and deny the false and misleading claims of opposition representatives and certain media outlets that have appeared in the public space in recent days. This is deliberate scaremongering and an attempt to exploit the sensitive issue of rural funding for cheap political gain," stated the ministry. It added that based on Monday's meeting between the ministry's state secretary and the DG AGRI director directly in Luxembourg, "we once again and unequivocally declare that no payments for Slovak farmers or rural development are in peril". According to the ministry, the top-level negotiations confirmed that both the EC and Slovakia have proceeded in a coordinated manner, professionally and without political games. The ministry also accused the opposition of spreading disinformation and making Slovak farmers feel uncertain. "We strongly urge opposition representatives to stop misusing this issue for political attacks and to refrain from unprofessional statements that aren't only damaging Slovakia's reputation, but also farmers' confidence in the stability of the support scheme," stated the ministry, adding that regardless of political pressure or campaigns in the media, both the ministry and PPA will act responsibly and in close cooperation with European partners for the benefit of Slovak farmers. Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) representatives said on Monday (27 April) that Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) should resign in light of the EC's letter concerning PPA's accreditation. According to them, PS has the EC's letter at its disposal. "We have the EC's letter, which clearly implies that minister Takac is lying and that he in fact doesn't even know how to address the reasons for which the EC has requested the suspension of the licence [accreditation], because he caused them himself through his own personnel nominations," stated PS caucus chair Zuzana Mesterova. jrg/df