Danko: Huliak Rejected House Vice-chair Post, Is Holding Talks with Premier

Bratislava, January 21 (TASR) - Independent MP Rudolf Huliak has rejected an offer to be a House vice-chair, TASR was told on Tuesday by Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko, who wanted to leave this post to him. According to Danko, Huliak also repeated his demand for the Environment Ministry. SNS won't discuss his conditions any further, as Huliak is now negotiating with Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD). "We received a repeated requirement for the Environment Ministry. I explained to him that, first of all, no one kicked him out of the party or the caucus and that he must be aware that if I satisfied his claim for the Environment Ministry, further problems would arise from the viewpoint of current Environment Minister [Tomas] Taraba (a SNS nominee) and the Kuffas [Stefan Kuffa and his son Filip Kuffa, both state secretaries - ed.note], so this is not a solution to the problem," Danko told the media about his meeting with Huliak held earlier on Tuesday. Danko also asked Huliak to return to the SNS caucus. Danko said that Huliak is now communicating with the premier and that Voice-SD MP Radomir Salitros is also due to hold talks with him. "I believe that Robert Fico will draw it to a successful end," stated Danko, adding that SNS can no longer take part in the negotiations, as it has done everything it could. According to him, Huliak has the right to act as he wants. "However, I refuse to gain anyone's affection for any benefits," he said. "I can only agree with an amendment to the coalition agreement, which isn't on the table now. Anyway, I think that Robert Fico is so experienced that he won't let himself be pushed to the wall by these people, either," said Danko. ko/mcs