Fight over credit for leading Slovakia into EU
"The parties of the former government coalition are seizing the most credit for accession to the European Union and [assert] that the opposition at that time blocked entry and did things that were against accession," said MEP Sergej Kozlík, who tops the populist HZDS list for the European Parliament elections, during a press conference assessing Slovakia's EU membership five years after accession.
According to Kozlík, Slovakia had to first "constitute itself as an independent state before it could enter the EU," and HZDS was a "decisive political force" in that process.
He recalled that in 2004 HZDS gave its backing to a referendum asking citizens whether Slovakia should join the EU. For the referendum to be valid, turnout had to be over 50%. This condition was met by a narrow margin, with 52% of voters going to the polls. Of those who participated, 92% supported Slovakia becoming a member of the bloc.
"It is self-evident that if HZDS had not supported the 'yes' in the referendum, we would not have had the narrow positive result," argued Kozlík, who also stressed that the Santer Commission favoured the accession of just four Central and Eastern European countries: Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. "It was Santer's successor, Romano Prodi, who pushed for ten countries to be accepted. From this point of view, I think that whoever was in government at that time can claim credit for Slovakia's entry into the European Union," concluded Kozlík.
The opposition sees it quite differently, however. Speaking to aktualne.sk recently, European Commissioner Jan Figel' (KDH) recalled the repeated warning notes sent by the Commission regarding Slovakia's anti-democratic development under Mečiar's government. Figeľ'was the chief negotiator of Slovakia's accession to the EU in Dzurinda's government.
Mečiar shot back by saying that Figel' and Dzurinda's government had made serious mistakes during the accession negotiations, particularly by accepting unfavourable conditions for the agricultural sector.
Premier calls for unity
In a separate event to mark the fifth anniversary of EU enlargement, Prime Minister Robert Fico called for political unity, recalling that without the support of the whole political spectrum, the 2004 referendum on EU membership would have failed.
"Unity is […] for Slovakia of utmost importance. I deeply regret that it was discontinued in 2008. There are no reasons that it could serve as an excuse for undermining the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, so needed for the functioning of the European Union," said Fico, referring to opposition attempts to block ratification of the treaty in exchange for the adoption of a controversial media bill.
Celebrations 'too expensive'
Opposition parties SDKÚ, KDH and SMK criticised the scale of the celebrations of the anniversary, which the government had prepared. They said they were too "exaggerated" and "pompous" given the economic downturn, especially compared to events taking place in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Fico rebuffed all such criticism, telling journalists that the government was not doing it "for our pleasure", but rather to boost the country's image abroad.
Christian Democrat (KDH) chairman Pavol Hrušovský was outraged that members of the opposition, who were in government when Slovakia joined the EU, were not invited the event.
Chronicle of an election foretold
Meanwhile, the EU election campaign officially began on Saturday (16 May). According to Fico, should turnout fall below 30%, there would be "shame for all Europeans". He urged his minister of foreign affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, to do his best to promote the European elections.
Experts expect turnout of around 20% in Slovakia, a small increase from the 16.99% of 2004. Such a low level means that to get a seat in European Parliament, a candidate only needs just under 40,000 votes, which analysts say favours parties with disciplined voters like SMK and KDH.
Less than a month before the elections, only two of the seven most relevant political parties (KDH and HZDS) have so far published comprehensive European manifestos.
