Pellegrini: Call to Freeze EU Funds for Slovakia Politically Motivated

Bratislava, 29 April (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini views the European Parliament's call for the European Commission to launch proceedings to freeze EU funds for Slovakia as a politically motivated move and an attempt to "punish" Slovakia for some of the Slovak government's views. "I firmly believe that, in the end, such a vote will not succeed and that the EU will not freeze our funds," the head of state stated in response. According to him, these are merely "outcries" of politicians who hold certain views about Slovakia. "As president, I cannot wish for such a disaster. On the contrary, I firmly believe and hope that this will not actually happen and that it is only political scaremongering," Pellegrini added. Members of the European Parliament voted in Strasbourg on Wednesday on budget discharge, assessing how EU institutions managed the European budget in 2024. They also approved a recommendation that the European Commission initiate legal proceedings which could lead to the freezing of EU funds for Slovakia in line with the conditionality mechanism. The European Commission will take the European Parliament's resolution as a political signal but is not obliged to follow it. mf