Fico: What Chancellor Merz said about Slovakia is unacceptable in modern Europe

Bratislava – Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) strongly objected to the statements of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to which Germany will consider the possibility of proposing in Brussels to withdraw EU funds from Slovakia if it continues to deviate from the common direction of the Union. The Chancellor’s statements are unacceptable in modern Europe, the Prime Minister said during a visit to Armenia on Tuesday, TASR reports.

“If someone wants to promote a policy of a single mandatory opinion, it is the end of democracy in Europe,” Fico said. “No one can threaten us here that if we do not obey, they will sort us out,” the Prime Minister added. According to him, Slovakia’s positions do not stem from “vanity” or narrow-mindedness, but from the fact that we have our own national interests.

The Prime Minister sees nothing in the practical politics of the Slovak Republic that anyone could label as a violation of the rule of law. He also defended his criticism of the suspension of natural gas transit through Ukraine and reiterated that it would be a mistake to stop the import of nuclear fuel from Russia.

Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár (Smer-SD) emphasized in this context that the thinking of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz is unacceptable. “If any of the states raises objections, it does so for its sovereign position, and then it is necessary to negotiate, not to seek coercive mechanisms,” the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic informed on Tuesday about the minister’s position. According to Blanár, Slovakia is a full-fledged member state of the EU, where decision-making processes are not governed by the statements of larger states, but by seeking consensus. “For this reason, the Slovak Republic repeatedly emphasizes that it is against the abolition of the veto and replacing unanimous voting with only qualified majority, which would put some states in a disadvantageous position when they would have to accept decisions that could fundamentally affect the state itself and its inhabitants,” Blanár stated.

Merz stated on Monday (May 26) that if the current positions of the countries do not change, the EU will not avoid conflict with Hungary and Slovakia. “We cannot allow the decisions of the entire EU to depend on some small minority. And there could certainly be clearer words and perhaps even tougher conflicts,” Merz said. He pointed out that both countries have the right of veto, which allows them to block or at least weaken the Union’s proposed sanctions against Russia. (May 27)