Monitor: Kery: EU Commission Treats Slovakia and Hungary Different Over Ukraine

(TA3, 'V politike', July 28) The European Commission treats Slovakia and Hungary in a different way from other EU member countries because Bratislava and Budapest hold views on how the war in Ukraine should be addressed that the European Commission doesn't like, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Marian Kery (Smer-SD) declared on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday. Such statement didn't sit well with House Foreign Affairs Committee vice-chair Tomas Valasek (PS), Kery's opposite number on the show, who argued that the European Commission has underlined specific missteps committed by Slovakia and that it has nothing to do with Ukraine. Kery doesn't find it surprising that Hungary and Slovakia have ranked the worst within the EU in the rule of law assessments. "It is certainly nothing but punishment for [Slovak Prime Minister Robert] Fico's and [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban's rhetoric. The European Commission never hesitates to use every opportunity to 'kick' these two leaders and tries to punish the two states," claimed Kery, adding that the rhetoric of Fico won't change, however. Valasek pointed out that the European Commission is not made of a single person. "The European Commission consists of 26 commissioners and the President, including Mr. [Maros] Sefcovic, the Smer-SD nominee, who approves these decisions at the Commission level," he pointed out. What's important in Kery's view is that the Government managed to push through the new Penal Code, over which the Commission has sent a letter of objections to Slovakia. He conceded that some amendments could have been avoided, but believes that the penal policy is a complex topic. In Valasek's opinion, the verdict handed down by the Constitutional Court clearly shows the unlawfulness of Smer-SD's actions, whereas Kery believes that the court flagged only cosmetic parts of it as problematic. "The most crucial part of it, the fact that we scrapped the Special Prosecutor's Office and the way we set about changing the criminal sentencing has been fully approved by the Constitutional Court," averred Kery. The two politicians also touched on the Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) public broadcaster. According to Kery, Smer-SD has no interest in turning the broadcaster into a state propaganda mouthpiece that would offer news reports lionizing the governing coalition. "We insist, however, that first signs of the television acting in a more political fashion can be discerned already," declared Valasek. mf