Foreign Policies

Pellegrini: Stumbling Blocks in Brussels Were Spitzenkandidaten

Bratislava/Brussels, July 1 (TASR-correspondent) – The nomination of party faction leaders from the recent European Parliament elections was a major stumbling block in the unsuccessful talks on filling key positions in European Union bodies at a summit in Brussels on Sunday and Monday, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) told Slovak media upon his return to Slovakia.

“We discussed the extent to which prime ministers are passing decision making into the hands of the [European] Parliament,” said Pellegrini.

The Slovak premier said that the talks took place “without a minute of sleep” from Sunday afternoon to Monday noon. His alleged candidacy as President of the European Council was not mentioned at all at the summit, and he himself did not do anything about it. Instead, Slovakia will try to get an “interesting portfolio” for European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
According to Pellegrini, a group of prime ministers from the EPP, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) opposed the original model, according to which Spitzenkandidaten Manfred Weber (EPP) and Frans Timmermans (PES) should have taken the chairman seats in the European Parliament and Commission.

Three combinations of nominations were discussed and, according to the Slovak prime minister, all the leaders seemed to understand on Monday noon that a new set of candidates was needed. Pellegrini believes the deal could be done on Tuesday.

SPPK: If Farmers Aren't Taken Seriously, They Will Be Seen in Streets More Often

If farmers' demands are not taken seriously, they will be seen in the streets more often, Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber chairman Emil Macho told a news conference held in front of the Parliament's building on Thursday.

PM: Slovakia to Organise Repeated Mass Testing, Two Dozen Districts Exempt

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) – Slovakia will organise a repeated mass testing for the coronavirus, but districts with positivity rates below 0.7 percent in the testing this past weekend will be exempt from the second round, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) announced after a meeting of the Central Crisis Management

President Supports Civic Collection to Purchase Ammunition for Ukraine

Bratislava, April 19 (TASR) - I support the 'Ammunition for Ukraine' civic collection, President Zuzana Caputova posted on a social network on Friday, adding that she's also proud that many in Slovakia care about the fate of neighbouring Ukraine. "I support this initiative because it's the right thing to do.

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