Danko Considers President's Decision Not to Declare Referendum to Be Unlawful

       Bratislava, 4 June (TASR) - I consider President Peter Pellegrini's decision not to declare a referendum on the non-application of sanctions against Russia to be unlawful, Slovak National Party (SNS) leader and Parliamentary vice-chair Andrej Danko told a press conference on Wednesday.
        Danko believes that if there was doubt about the authenticity of the signatures, the head of state should have approached institutions under the authority of the Interior Ministry, and in the case of suspicions about the legality, he should have approached the Constitutional Court. He stated that an SNS legal team will prepare a legal defence for those who initiated the referendum and invite them to a meeting. He also called on the head of state to reconsider his decision.
        "I'd like to express my astonishment and clearly declare that we consider the statement and decision of the president to be unlawful. We believe that it will be reviewed by the respective authorities. In a way, I admire the courage of Peter Pellegrini, our president, for feeling able to decide to ignore several hundred thousand signatures. Referendums are the greatest institution in democracy. If 450,000 signatures are collected, then everyone should examine them with due diligence, not take them lightly and make a decision," he stated.
        The president said on Wednesday that a referendum initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement on lifting sanctions against Russia can't be declared. He sees ambiguities in the requested question: "Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not apply sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, sole traders and businesses?". In his view, the proposal for a referendum is not clear, definite or predictable and would therefore be unworkable in practice.