Robert Fico: The European Parliament has no right to control the Slovak Republic

Bratislava – The European Parliament (EP) does not have the right to control the Slovak Republic, nor to dictate anything to us. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico (Smer-SD), said this during a press statement on Monday after receiving the EP monitoring group for democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights. By accepting the delegation, he wanted to express basic respect and regard for the MEPs. This was reported by TASR.

Fico appreciated that the MEPs were factually interested in the topics. One of them was, according to him, the visit of the EP Budget Control Committee delegation led by MEP Tomáš Zdechovský last week. Fico again objected to his statements addressed to the Slovak government.

“We explained very precisely how we perceived and perceive this provocation from the Czech MEP,” the Prime Minister noted.

According to Fico, the MEPs respected that the current government has not adopted any legislative measures concerning human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The Prime Minister also stated that one of the topics of the meeting was the relationship between the government and the media. They also discussed the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor with the EP delegation. “They received answers that all cases have been redistributed, that the prosecutors of the special prosecutor’s office continue within the General Prosecutor’s Office, and these matters are being further processed,” the Prime Minister stated.

In the discussion, according to Fico, they also touched on the current proposal for an amendment to the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. They focused mainly on the issue of the supremacy of national law in matters of national identity. In topics such as the question of marriage, national law must take precedence, according to Fico.

The amendment to the law on non-governmental organizations, according to him, is not subject to any criticism from the EU. The Prime Minister also stated that he asked the representatives of the EP to set up the same mission and to also address the years 2020 to 2023. He spoke of a double standard, pointing to the death of a Slovak citizen at a Belgian airport.

The head of the EP monitoring group for democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights, Sophie Wilmès, clarified before the reception at the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic that the goal of the four-member delegation is to study and further address the report on the rule of law, which contains several pillars.

“The ones we will focus on will be media freedom, justice, independence of power, but also civil society,” she noted. The Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Javier Zarzalejos, announced an effort to cooperate with all interested parties, with all relevant actors, to assess the current situation in the area of the rule of law and democracy in Slovakia. (June 2)