A. Danko Criticises President's Reaction to Premier Fico's Moscow Trip

Bratislava, December 23 (TASR) - Coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko, has criticised President Peter Pellegrini's statements against Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and expressed disappointment that the president is asking the premier to explain his business trip to Moscow, as well as criticising Fico for not engaging in the talks with the medical and educational trade unions, according to Danko's social media post. "Requesting an explanation from the premier about what he did in Moscow seems to reflect a lack of understanding or awareness of the situation that Slovakia is facing with threats to its gas supplies. Somehow, the Presidential Palace hasn't noticed it. I didn't like how you [the president] referred to Robert Fico for not meeting with school or health unions, which is an issue of your political party," Danko referred to the president and former leader of the Voice-SD. Danko supported premier's trip and mentioned that he looks forward to his own planned visit to Moscow. The SNS leader believes that next year, the dialogue between the coalition parties, Voice-SD, SNS, and Smer-SD, will improve. "Statements like those made today by Peter Pellegrini are being misused by people such as Samuel Migal (Voice-SD), who are weakening our government," he added. Danko believes that similar statements should be avoided to prevent the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party from coming to power. Premier Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday. They spoke about the military situation in Ukraine, the possibilities of a peaceful solution to the war, as well as bilateral relations between Slovakia and Russia that Fico wishes to standardise. Russian gas transit was also on the agenda of their talks. Fico claims that he has been pursuing a sovereign policy in relation to all four cardinal directions and that he informed the EU's top officials about his trip in advance. lin/mcs