Slovakia can either get on "the integration train" or remain side-tracked in a depot, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told at a news conference on Wednesday in a reaction to statements made by the leader of Opposition party Freedom and Solidarity, Richard Sulík, on Tuesday. In a video posted on the party's website, Sulík said that the country should not strive to be in the A class of EU-member countries and that it might be even dangerous for it to do so.
"If we choose integration, then this needs to have visible advantages for Slovakia. If not, then let's rather stay aside,"
stated Sulík in the video adding that the membership of such a group would effectively rob Slovakia of its competitive economic benefits, such as its relatively low tax rates. He pointed to the fact that Slovakia has been posting better figures than many of the A class states in several indicators since the year 2000, including cumulative GDP growth, public debt developments, direct taxes and terrorism risks.
Robert Fico rejected these arguments, stating that it is a fact that some of the countries that have joined the eurozone will have to develop even closer cooperation. Integration has always helped Slovakia in the past, he claimed.
"At the end of the day, we can say that there are more positives stemming from our EU membership, 97 percent to perhaps some 3 percent. We shouldn't be highlighting those 3 percent as something preventing us from continuing our efforts. It is the tax you always have to pay," stated Fico, who also expects other positive effects, such as a ban on social dumping and faster approximation to average EU living standards.
According to the Slovak MEP for the European People's Party, Ivan Štefanec, Slovakia is already in the EU's core. Štefanec thinks that the future of Slovakia's position in the Union is based on its membership of the Eurozone, and the country must try to make its deeper integration profitable.
