The coalition SNS calls on the President of the Slovak Republic, Petr Pellegrini, not to sign the amendment to the law on gambling, which was approved by the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic on Thursday (October 23). According to the SNS, gambling is a “necessary evil” that needs to be dealt with comprehensively and systematically. This follows from the party’s opinion, which was sent to TASR by the director of the office of the president of the SNS, Andreja Danko, Zuzana Škopcová.
“SNS is convinced that the President of the Slovak Republic should return the draft law and entrust the relevant departments, especially the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, to submit a conceptual and comprehensive amendment to the law, which will not be ‘sewn with a hot needle’ according to the interests of individuals, but will benefit the entire system and the public interest,” the nationalists said. According to them, gambling must have its own clear regulation, especially in the online space. “This is an area that is highly susceptible to the gray economy and therefore requires a society-wide discussion,” SNS claims.
She reminded that she did not support the amendment to the law either at the government meeting or at the meeting of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic. “When promoting the establishment of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MCRŠ), SNS proposed that the company Tipos fall under this ministry – with the aim of strengthening support for sports and at the same time helping people addicted to gambling. In this part, SNS agrees with the proposal, however rejects that gambling is one of the consolidation measures that are supposed to burden the state budget,” explained Škopcová.
On Thursday evening, Parliament finally approved the amendment to the law on gambling. They discussed it in abbreviated legislative proceedings, 71 of the 78 legislators present voted for the proposal. According to the MCRŠ, the approved amendment, which also includes the national lottery company Tipos, responds to the need to increase state budget revenues. At the same time, it introduces a more efficient operation of number lotteries and the taking over of an individual license by the national lottery company from another gambling operator under the established conditions.
