Slovakia prefers dialogue to activation of Article 7

Slovakia prefers dialogue to activation of Article 7

Slovakia prefers dialogue to restrictions, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Thursday with respect to the plan to activate Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty against Poland and Hungary. The EU intends to adopt penalties against Hungary and Poland over steps that it believes violate European values. Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko told Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto on Wednesday (October 17) that Slovakia would take the side of Hungary and Poland regarding the activation of Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty. Danko disagrees with the behaviour of EU, which, in his view, chose egregiously to trample on the rights of sovereign member states - Hungary and Poland. Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini does not intend to comment on the activities of the Parliament in general, unless they drastically deviate from Slovakia's foreign-political orientation. "Expressing an opinion that we prefer dialogue to penalties does not fly in the face of the Government's opinion or the view of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, however," he added. Article 7, which the EU has never used before against any member state, is considered to be an extremely severe penalty. Dubbed a "nuclear weapon" by the media, the activation of Article 7 might lead to the suspension of voting rights for the penalised country in the Council of the EU. The EU harbours grave reservations against Polish judicial reform, which it views as undercutting the independence of the judiciary in the country. The use of Article 7 against Hungary was approved on September 12, 2018 by the European Parliament.


Martina Šimkovičová, Photo: AP/TASR

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