Prime Minister Fico Respects Rejection of Prochazka's Bid

Prime Minister Fico Respects Rejection of Prochazka's Bid

Bratislava, December 13 (TASR) – Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) respects the decision of the Council of the EU’s consultative committee, which has rejected Radoslav Prochazka’s bid for a judge of the EU General Court (EUGC), TASR learnt on Tuesday.

Therefore, Slovakia will likely need to pick another official candidate.

“I lent my support to Mr. Prochazka as Prime Minister,” said Fico. “I think that on the Government’s part we did all we could do to support this candidacy and now have to respect this decision that I’ve also already heard about.”

Without any official statement from Brussels yet, the Prime Minister refused to comment further on the issue. “In all likelihood, if a person is politically active, it might pose an obstacle to their future efforts to fill these posts, which are perceived legally-wise as very neutral and independent. We’ll probably need to search for a different candidate,” claimed Fico.

Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska (Most-Hid) isn’t glad that Slovakia has to look for another EUGC judge hopeful.

Zitnanska conceded that Slovakia does not find itself in an easy predicament when it comes to this personnel issue. “Candidates with such comprehensive personalities who meet such a wide array of criteria as expected are few and far between in Slovakia,” she told journalists. The minister didn’t want to make any other comments before the official statement from Luxembourg was announced.

Citing unofficial sources, Dennik N daily reported earlier in the day that Prochazka’s candidacy was turned down.

Prochazka was the Slovak Republic’s second candidate for the additional EUGC judge post. The previous candidate was Maria Patakyova, who failed to be accepted due to her inadequate command of French. The Judicial Council elected Prochazka the official candidate on September 19, with the Cabinet greenlighting the nomination on September 28. Slovakia is the last country that hasn’t filled its vacancy on the additional EUGC judge post.