The European Commission (EC) will inform Slovakia in a letter about possible sanctions that could consequence in Bratislava losing any of the EU funds," stated the British diary of Financial Times, citing the source.
"The European Commission is examining the anticipation of imposing sanctions on the Slovak government of Prime Minister Robert Fico for moving distant from the (rule) regulation of law – a decision that may deprive the Central European country of part of its (EU) funds [...]. EU executives are preparing a letter informing Bratislava that she will be punished if she does not change her policy," said the authoritative quoted in the publication.
The paper points out that Brussels is afraid about the "growing restrictions on the independency of the judiciary" – including the abolition of a peculiar prosecutor's office who has investigated noisy cases. The publication noted that the EU could suspend Slovakia's allocation of more than EUR 12.8 billion in the EU Solidarity Fund budget if there is simply a hazard of misuse.
In early February, the Slovak Parliament supported the improvement of criminal law proposed by the Robert Fico government, against which many protests have been held in the republic since the end of 2023. The fresh measures provided for the relaxation of penalties for certain economic, corruption and property offences and the liquidation of the peculiar prosecutors. The opposition stated that the proposals to close the peculiar prosecutor's office were due to the government's desire to halt investigations into delicate matters politically and that the proposed leniency of penalties for crimes would turn Slovakia into "Eldorado for criminals".
The erstwhile president of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, who besides disagreed with the proposed reform, signed the bill but forwarded it to the Constitutional Court for consideration. After examination, the Constitutional Tribunal suspended any of the criminal improvement standards, but did not prevent the closure of the office of the peculiar Prosecutor, and the liquidation of the unit was to take place by 20 March.
The Slovak Prime Minister Fico has repeatedly said that a peculiar prosecutor should be closed in the republic. This agency, according to Fico, has repeatedly violated human rights in the course of its investigation and simply changing its boss would not be enough. He besides said that "we must put an end to evil in the individual of Daniel Lipschitz (the head of the peculiar prosecutor's office – ed.)". According to Fico Lipschitz, his actions are guided by political motives.
The office of the peculiar Prosecutor in Slovakia, which the Fico government managed to close, dealt with matters related to organised crime, corruption, abuse of power, terrorism and extremism. The European Commission has asked the Slovak Government not to rush to close this unit. The U.S. Embassy in Slovakia besides stated that the United States agrees with the European Commission and believes that specified extended changes require careful analysis.
Daniel Głogowski
Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.
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EC scares Slovakia with sanctions – media reports
