Monitor: Fico & Sulik Agree on Need to Protect Southern Border against Migrants

(RTVS, O pat minut dvanast, September 17) Speaking on RTVS's discussion programme 'Five Minutes to Twelve' on Sunday, Smer-SD head Robert Fico and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Richard Sulik agreed on the need to protect Slovakia's southern border against irregular migrants. Sulik, however, noted in this vein that the issue of increased irregular migration won't be dealt with via a special parliamentary session that Smer wants to launch to oblige the government to reintroduce checks on the Slovak-Hungarian border, explaining that as Parliament previously failed to express its confidence in the caretaker government, it can't oblige it to do anything. Fico opined that the government won't have many options if Parliament adopts a resolution to this end and will have to obey. The SaS leader noted that his party will pressure the government to protect the border, adding that nothing serious will happen if the state of affairs is preserved until the upcoming snap election, however. "People will then elect a new government and it'll take action," he remarked. Fico disagreed with Sulik's position, stating if checks on the border were reintroduced now, they could prevent thousands of irregular migrants from entering Slovakia by the time a new government is formed. zel