BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -Slovak opposition leader Michal Simecka launched an attempt to dismiss the leftist-nationalist government in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, accusing Prime Minister Robert Fico of laying the groundwork to take the country out of the EU.
The opposition effort looked set to fail as the government’s slim majority in parliament was expected to back Fico.
Fico has sought to maintain relations with Russia during the war in Ukraine and halted official military aid to Kyiv. He has criticised sanctions on Russia and escalated a rift with Kyiv after Russian gas supplies through Ukraine stopped at the end of 2024.
Fico, leader of the leftist Smer-SSD party and a four-time prime minister, has also said Slovakia needed to prepare for “all possible crisis situations” which the EU could face in the short term, suggesting even a break-up of the bloc.
“This cannot be read in any other way than… what we had warned of: that the government of Smer is preparing the ground for leading Slovakia out of the European Union,” Simecka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia party, told parliament.
“I see this as such an existential threat to our national interests that we do not need anything else to declare no-confidence.”
Fico told parliament that foreign policy was determined by NATO and EU membership but Slovakia could not be “static” in a fast-developing world.
“What if a group of 3-4 large countries comes and says, ladies and gentlemen, either there will be a superstate where you lose all your national sovereignty … or go your own way?” Fico said. “We are speaking of a development that can happen very fast.”
Fico reiterated his stance against extending the EU’s majority voting to more areas, which would limit the power of national vetoes.
Fico travelled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a unannounced private trip in December to discuss gas and Ukraine. A delegation of several pro-government members of parliament went to Moscow last week seeking to improve ties.
The prime minister has since accused the opposition of preparing popular protests with the aim of seizing power, which the opposition has denied.
Fico has also travelled China, Brazil, and Turkey to forge ties under what he calls a foreign policy in all directions.
Fico’s cabinet was expected to be backed by Smer as well as deputies from the nationalist SNS and centre-left Hlas party, giving him enough votes to survive. However, Hlas has rejected any discussion over EU membership, and several of its deputies have protested against Fico’s foreign policy.
(Reporting by Radovan Stoklasa and Jan Lopatka; Editing by Ros Russell and Peter Graff)
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