The rhetoric of SNS leader Andrei Danko in Moscow, with which he accused the Western powers of inciting conflicts between nations and causing instability in Central and Eastern Europe, is dangerous. In the discussion show TA3 In politics, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment of the Slovak Republic Tomáš Taraba (SNS nominee) and the member of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic and the chairman of Progressive Slovakia (PS) Michal Šimečka agreed on this.
Taraba emphasized that he has nothing against visits to Moscow and meetings with representatives of the Russian Federation in the case of defending Slovakia’s national interests. “However, if someone is using it to disrupt relations with our allies in the European Union (EU) and NATO, I don’t understand it.” stated. In this context, he also understands the step of the ambassadors of Western countries in the Slovak Republic, who objected to Danko’s statements to the Russian state media. “If a NATO member state says that another NATO member state is trying to destabilize, those are dangerous words,” he commented on Danko’s statements.
The chairman of the PS agrees with this opinion, but he considers the statements of the vice-chairman of the NR of the Slovak Republic Tibor Gašpar (Smer-SD), admitting the possibility of the withdrawal of the Slovak Republic from the EU, to be an even greater risk. “Mr. Prime Minister de facto confirmed these words in his video on the social network, when he spoke about the possible disintegration of the EU in the way that he himself would have wished.” he said. He emphasized that in addition to political consequences, these statements may also have negative economic effect, for example, the reluctance of foreign partners to invest in Slovakia.
Taraba believes that Gašpar’s words were misinterpreted. “No one here is going to withdraw from the EU and NATO, but we have to be critical of what is not working in the union and as a result there is a risk that if these things are not resolved, the process that led to withdrawal in Britain may be started in other countries as well from the EU,” pointed out. He reminded that Gašpar responded to the SaS proposal to enshrine Slovakia’s membership in the EU and NATO in the constitution, and that this status can only be changed by changing the constitutional law. “He said that if the entry of the Slovak Republic into both communities was decided in a referendum, the same mechanism should also apply in the case of the possibility of withdrawal.” he explained. He repeated that Slovakia has a place and a future in the Euro-Atlantic structures.
Tarab sees the potential of Slovakia within the framework of sovereign foreign policy in diplomatic activities in mitigating conflicts, “sharpening of edges”, he recalled that these were also important topics of government visits to China and Brazil at the end of last year. Šimečka pointed out that the so-called the four-world policy proclaimed by the government is encountering more and more problems. He criticized the Prime Minister’s statements that harm current and future relations with Ukraine, and also pointed to the deteriorated relations with Poland and the Czech Republic.
