MEP Roth Nevedalova: Smer Doesn't Rule Out Renewed Cooperation with S&D

Strasbourg, July 17 (TASR) - Smer-SD doesn't rule out renewed cooperation with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the future but it rejects a partnership with the Patriots for Europe political group, MEP Katarina Roth Nevedalova, who ran form Smer, told TASR in an interview on Tuesday. Negotiations with S&D are suspended for the time being, but should continue in the future, Roth Nevedalova claimed. According to her, Smer's membership of S&D would be natural as it is "the only social democratic political group in the European Parliament". However, there has been no agreement on cooperation yet. Thus, the Smer-SD MEPs currently remain unattached in the EP. Before the inaugural plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the possible membership of Smer in the Patriots for Europe group was discussed in the media. Roth Nevedalova rejected this possibility, however. "The Patriots for Europe faction was never an option for us... For us, cooperation with far-right parties such as the party of Marine Le Pen [National Rally] and Geert Wilders [Party for Freedom] was never considered a good decision. We won't cooperate with parties that are, among other issues, anti-Eastern European and have more extreme views," she added. Roth Nevedalova at the same time reported that Smer managed to get representation in the Conference of Presidents, with MEP Monika Benova set to serve on it. "There was never such a position in the EP for non-attached MEPs before," said Roth Nevedalova. The Party of European Socialists suspended Smer-SD's membership of in October 2023 on the grounds of Smer leader Robert Fico's deviation from its values and due to Smer's association with the right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS). Fico announced last week that Smer MEPs prefer to remain unattached in the EP as Smer disagrees with several stances of S&D, such as the war in Ukraine, migration, powers of veto and other ethical issues. zel