PS: Fico Should Do Utmost to Strike Deal on EU Budget

Brussels/Bratislava, 12 November (TASR) – Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) description of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's remarks on the EU budget as blackmail amounts to cynical gambling with Slovakia's national interests, stated MEP Lubica Karvasova (Progressive Slovakia/PS) in Brussels on Thursday, TASR's special correspondent reported from Brussels on the same day. According to Karvasova, the prime minister should do everything possible to secure an agreement on the EU budget by the end of this year, or Slovakia risks losing billions of euros in EU funding. European leaders agreed at their summit in October that an agreement on the EU budget must be reached by the end of the year. The relevant legislation needs to be prepared next year so that, for example, Slovak regions can start drawing EU funds as of January 2028. "Robert Fico endorsed these conclusions and agreed with them, but today he describes efforts to reach an agreement as blackmail," she added, calling his position unacceptable. MEP Ludovit Odor (PS) said that he was troubled by the fact that the prime minister "doesn't know which side he's on". "Basically, he does everything [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants, whether it concerns emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, the statue of [Soviet marshal Ivan] Konev or removing Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list. And he doesn't even bother to negotiate with the partners on whom our future depends, including economically," the MEP stated. Odor pointed out that Slovakia has received more than €30 billion from the EU over the past 22 years, including contributions from Germany. He underlined that Slovakia's biggest partners aren't Russia and Belarus, but Germany and the EU. He added that PS knows how to kick-start the economy and help businesses and regions in order to improve living standards in Slovakia. "If the prime minister doesn't know how to do this, does not understand it or is completely lost, he should step aside. There should be early elections as soon as possible; an alternative is ready," he said. The German chancellor sent a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa threatening to block approval of the EU budget for 2028-2034 unless all member states commit themselves to continuing financial assistance to Ukraine in 2027 and beyond. The Slovak prime minister described Merz's letter as blackmail. Slovakia, he said, has the same veto rights as Germany and, as a sovereign country, is entitled to its own position. "If the German chancellor comes along and says he'll block the EU budget because he wants all countries to sign up to a €70-billion loan for Ukraine, I'm telling him no. I'll block it too," said Fico on Tuesday (10 November). mf/df