LSNS Starts Collecting Signatures for Petition on Leaving EU and NATO

LSNS Starts Collecting Signatures for Petition on Leaving EU and NATO

Bratislava, July 1 (TASR) – The far-right Kotleba-People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) has started to collect signatures for a petition aimed at triggering referendums on Slovakia’s departure from the EU and NATO, announced LSNS leader Marian Kotleba at a press conference in front of the parliamentary building on Friday.

“We see this activity not only as necessary and legitimate, but also as room for a public discussion on the real pros and cons of Slovakia’s membership of the EU and NATO,” said Kotleba, who’d like to see Slovakia outside these institutions.

According to LSNS, Slovakia’s departure from the two organisations would help the country to restore its independence and sovereignty.

The far-right party opted for two separate petitions because, according to Kotleba, there are people nowadays who are in favour of withdrawal from NATO but don’t want to leave the EU, and vice versa. “The signatures will be collected separately. The ideal scenario would be if there were two referendums,” said Kotleba. At least 350,000 signatures are needed for a referendum.

LSNS is also planning to address the issue of reducing the 50-percent quorum for a referendum to be declared valid. Kotleba can imagine the threshold decreasing to 30 percent. This is a question for a wider discussion, however, he said.