House Fails to Open Special Session on Foreign Policy, Next Try on Wednesday

Bratislava, January 14 (TASR) - Parliament failed to open a special session on Slovakia's foreign-political anchoring after two attempts to do so on Tuesday. As only 65 MPs presented themselves for the second vote, the House was inquorate, and Peter Ziga (Voice-SD), who is tasked with heading Parliament on a temporary basis, adjourned the beginning of the special session until Wednesday (January 15) morning. The session was initiated by opposition MPs from Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and the Christian Democrats (KDH). They wanted a resolution to be adopted at the session by which Parliament would confirm Slovakia's foreign anchoring in the EU and NATO and commit itself to actively promoting and defending it. The opposition views this as necessary given the government's recent foreign-political moves and perceives adopting the resolution as essential for ensuring the stability, security and prosperity of Slovak citizens. The opposition MPs demand that Premier Robert Fico and Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (both Smer-SD) should attend the session. ko/df