Parliament: Committee Fails to Approve Resolution on Kmec's Nomination

Bratislava, 2 June (TASR) - The House foreign affairs committee hasn't approved a resolution concerning the nomination of MP Peter Kmec (Voice-SD) for the post of ambassador to Italy, as the opposition outvoted the coalition politicians, TASR reported after the committee hearing on Tuesday. Due to a lack of time, however, the committee members also failed to hear another MP, former judge Miroslav Radacovsky (Independent), who is set to become head of the embassy in Cyprus, announcing that they would do so later. Some opposition parties have already called on President Peter Pellegrini not to appoint Kmec and Radacovsky. After his hearing, Kmec said that his nomination as ambassador means that he's returning to diplomacy and leaving politics, claiming that he doesn't have the stomach for the latter. "Basically, I take it as giving up on Slovak politics, the Slovak style of politics," stated Kmec. The opposition has criticised him for a subsidy scandal at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy, as well as the purchase of the former Voderady outlet near Trnava. Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Juraj Krupa said that with the unapproved resolution Parliament has signalled to the president that he shouldn't appoint Kmec "who was even dismissed by by [Prime Minister] Robert Fico". Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) chair Milan Majersky reproached Kmec for confusing the people of Slovakia with his stances. "When you were Slovakia's ambassador to the USA, you spoke clearly about our strategic, defence and foreign policy position. And it was clear and obvious; but then, all of a sudden, you became an MP and confused Slovaks by speaking against the strategic partnership with the USA," said Majersky. Kmec rejected the opposition's criticism earlier on Tuesday, claiming that he doesn't want politicians to misuse his name for domestic political battles. He pointed out that his nomination has already been approved by the Italian side and said that he'll be a credible partner. He was unable to say what the consequences of the unapproved resolution will be, but said that it shouldn't have any formal impact on the chances of his appointment. If the president hands him his credentials, he could take up office as ambassador on 1 July. Due to a lack of time, MPs didn't manage to hear former judge Radacovsky during the committee session. Speaking to the media, he admitted that he has no diplomatic experience and expects his work to be judged only after he takes up the post. Radacovsky believes that the government nominated him because of his judicial experience. "In view of my life experience, the fact that I was deciding as a judge on behalf of the Slovak Republic, meaning in the name of all citizens, including you, for 36 years, the fact that I have some managerial experience in working with important matters, given that I was an MEP, and that I'm also linguistically qualified, they made this decision," stated Radacovsky, not seeing any problem in the fact that Cyprus supports Ukraine in the war with Russia while in the past he's pointed to the need to stop weapons deliveries to Ukraine. "No, this country doesn't openly support Ukraine, this country supports a peaceful dialogue and an end to war," he claimed about Cyprus on Tuesday. Opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) MP Tomas Valasek said that the former judge is "uniquely unqualified" to lead any embassy, noting that Cyprus is, moreover, a complex country. "It's a country torn by conflict; there was a real war in the early 1970s," said Valasek, adding that "this isn't an ambassadorial post where you go to get a tan". jrg/df