BRATISLAVA, September 23, (SITA) — The ruling coalition member SDKU-DS is offering a solution to the stalemate connected with support to the eurozone bailout fund, which the SaS party rejects. According to a member of SDKU-DS presidium and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Ondrej Matej, the solution should comprise an accord of the entire coalition to support the bailout fund as a system, but the coalition would again decide about a concrete assistance to a particular country, while each party would have the right of veto. “This is a solution for the coalition to go on and fulfill its commitment to voters, which all four parties gave to its supporters. After fourteen months, we have started to achieve something. Reform laws are starting to bring results. I would be sorry if we had to end governing due to a failure to agree as well as approve the solution offered by SDKU-DS. We will patiently negotiate until the last moment so that we ratify the European bailout fund under these conditions,” Matej told SITA news agency on Friday.
Matej explained that supporting the bailout fund as a mechanism is similar to provision of mortgages. “The bank’s board approves the procedure for mortgage provision, after which the management discusses concrete conditions for the loan. This is what our proposal encompasses, so that not the finance minister decides about a loan, but coalition parties with the right of vote,” Matej said, adding that if Greece asked now for more funds from the bailout fund, Slovakia would say no. On the contrary, we lent money to Ireland and the country is gradually overcoming problems.
Matej is calling on the coalition and in particular on the SaS party to return to the SDKU-DS offer. “By its approval we will avoid making Slovakia the black sheep and facing isolation,” he stated. If the opposition SMER-SD joins the offer, individual loans could be subject to approval by the parliament, instead of ruling coalition members.
According to Matej, the aim of the bailout fund is not just to resolve the debt crisis, but primarily its approval is a signal to economies such as the U.S.A., China, India, Japan that the euro is a strong currency that no speculators will shake. “We will show that the eurozone can manage if its gets into problems,” he added. Matej concluded by saying that the bailout fund is not about Greece, like the SaS says. “The loan was about Greece, which we did not give and will not,” he stated.
SITA