Head of S&D Group: Suspension of Membership for Smer and Voice Necessary

Brussels/Bratislava, October 12 (TASR-correspondent) - The suspension of memberships of Slovak political parties Smer-SD and Voice-SD in the Party of European Socialists (PES) is a necessary step, head of Socialists & Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament Iratxe Garci Perez declared on Thursday. TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent in Brussels. The head of the second largest political group in the European Parliament announced that the S&D faction will suspend memberships of three Slovak MEPs, representing Smer-SD, as of next week: namely, Monika Benova, Robert Hajsel and Katarina Roth Nevedalova. In their press release, the Socialists & Democrats faction announced that they welcome and support the unanimous decision by the Party of European Socialists Presidium (PES) to suspend memberships for Smer-SD and Voice-SD. “The recent public comments and positions taken by SMER and HLAS party leaders regarding the Russian war against Ukraine, migration, the rule of law and the LGTBIQ community have raised serious concerns and have no place in the progressive family,” reads the group’s press release. mf