Prime Minister Iveta Radičová of Slovakia addresses parliament, August 11
Slovakia’s new ruling coalition has refused to participate in the European Union aid effort for ailing Greece. Prime Minister Iveta Radičová’s government complains that with Greece being much wealthier than Slovakia, the latter shouldn’t be held accountable for the fiscal woes in the former.
After the meltdown in Greece last April, European leaders agreed to an unprecedented bailout effort aimed at saving Greece from bankruptcy and the euro from steep decline. Along with the International Monetary Fund, the EU pledged €110 billion, or $143 billion, to Greece’s aid.
A month later, in May, Europe scrambled together another €750 billion, or nearly $1 trillion, in stabilization funds, intent on ensuring investors that Europe’s common market and currency were safe.
Slovakia, which joined the EU in 2004 and adopted the euro in January 2009, is expected to contribute some €816 million to the Greek bailout. The last government, composed of a broad coalition of social democrats, nationalists and conservatives and led by Prime Minister Roberto Fico, agreed to participate in the bailout but Radičová, whose christian democrats won impressively in June’s election, won’t take responsibility for Greece’s inability to balance its books. “I do not consider it solidarity if it is solidarity between the poor and the rich, of the responsible with the irresponsible, or of tax payers with bank owners and managers,” in the words of her finance minister, Ivan Mikloš.
During a vote in parliament about the bailout, the socialist opposition largely abstained from voting.
The parliament’s decision won’t imperil future disbursements of the rescue package for Greece, according to the European Commission. “There will be no impact on the financial assistance to Greece,” said a spokesman. “It’s now to the euro area member states to decide how to proceed on practical terms.”
Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn of Finland announced in a statement released on Wednesday that he expects Slovakia’s “breach of solidarity,” as he described it, to be discussed in the next council of Europe’s finance ministers.
Slovakia did reiterate its participation in the larger €750 billion European Financial Stability Facility on Wednesday to which it contributes some €4.4 billion.
