Bratislava (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Slovakia’s opposition leader Michal Simecka launched an attempt to dismiss Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government in a no-confidence vote, blaming him for preparing to exit the European Union.
“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, briefed the Slovak parliament.
“I see this as such an existential threat to our national interests that we do not need anything else to declare no-confidence.”
Is Slovakia’s government planning to exit the European Union?
Prime Minister and leader of the leftist Smer-SSD party Robert Fico has aimed to maintain ties with Russia during the fighting in Ukraine and ended official military assistance to Kyiv.
He has slammed sanctions on Russia and escalated a split with Kyiv after Russian gas supplies via Ukraine halted at the end of 2024. Fico journeyed to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on an unannounced private travel in December to consult gas and Ukraine.
What concerns has Fico raised about the EU’s future structure?
Fico has also expressed Slovakia is required to be ready for “all possible crises” that the EU could confront in the short term.
“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 stated.
“We are speaking of a development that can happen very fast.”
The leader of the leftist Smer-SSD party also reiterated his perspective against expanding the EU’s majority voting to more regions. He further told the Slovak parliament that foreign policy was determined by EU membership and NATO but his country could not be “static” in the developing world.