Simecka: Robert Fico Directly Responsible for Gas Supply Problem

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is reportedly going to Brussels on Thursday (January 9) to negotiate gas transit, but he's once again grabbing a problem by the tail; indeed, after he himself provoked it, stated chairman of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Michal Simecka on Tuesday. According to him, the premier has already managed to lose everything - gas, money for transit as well as the respect of Slovakia's partners. According to Simecka, Fico had months to negotiate. "But, instead of good relations with Kiev and the EU, he chose to kneel before dictator [Vladimir] Putin in Moscow - the Putin whose brutal attack on Ukraine is the very source of the entire gas crisis. Not to mention the fact that it is Fico who has been in power most of the time and has had almost 14 years to gain independence from Russia and diversify gas supplies for Slovakia. He wasted that time, however," stressed the opposition leader. "And when the consequences of his inaction, insults and his expensive and chaotic actions fell on the public, he left Slovakia. Instead of governing, he's sending us videos from a Vietnamese apartment that costs over €6,000 per night. Such a prime minister is really no use to Slovakia. Our task is to replace him in an election as soon as possible," added Simecka. am/df