Slovak government delays ‘hot-button’ issues until autumn

As the summer recess of the Slovak parliament approaches, the ruling coalition announced on Tuesday that it will postpone until September the controversial laws on foreign agents and environmental impact assessment, as well as the dispute over the new speaker of parliament, which the coalition parties are contesting.

The government cited “continued negotiations” as the reason for postponing the new controversial NGO bill, despite it being initially planned to be approved before the summer.

The NGO bill, similar to the one that is hotly contested in Georgia, would introduce the labelling of “organisations with foreign support” in case NGOs receive more than €5,000 a year in foreign funding.

Following the postponement announcement, Smer MP Tibor Gašpar acknowledged that the labelling  for NGOs might not be compatible with European law.

“First they will present legislation in contradiction with European law. We point it out to them, and suddenly they don’t know how to proceed,” said MP for leading opposition party PS Zuzana Števulová, adding that this law is “proof of the dilettantism of the ruling coalition”.

But the bill has been the subject of heavy criticism.

In May, Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Slovak MPs not to pass the bill in its current form, saying it would create “a chilling effect” for civil society in Slovakia.

As for the government’s proposed amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act, Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (for SNS) postponed the debate.

The amendment to the EIA Act is still to be consulted with the EU Commission, he said, adding that the amendment should bring about the removal and modification of processes in the light of the Commission’s warnings.

Critics of the draft law fear that its current wording would deprive the public and local governments of the right to participate in the vast majority of assessments.

Unknown new parliamentary speaker

At the same time, a row has been raging over who will be Slovakia’s new parliamentary speaker since Peter Pellegrini resigned after winning the presidential election in April.

Since then, Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer and ultra-nationalist SNS party have preferred to give the post to the SNS, even though the coalition agreement guarantees it to Pellegrini’s Hlas party.

With neither side willing to back down, the ruling coalition decided to postpone the issue until September.

The new leader of Hlas, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, said they had agreed to the postponement “out of respect for Robert Fico’s injuries”.

“We will make use of the summer period to not bother anyone with anything. The National Council of the Slovak Republic has a deputy speaker in charge who will lead the meeting,” said Šutaj Eštok on Monday evening.

Last week, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) backed SNS leader Andrej Danko for the speaker’s post, saying it was a good proposal for the stability and balance of the coalition. He added that Robert Fico also supported the idea.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)

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