Marine Le Pen will be very cautious in doing business with parties who clearly are anti-Semitic and “she probably had even more red lines than [Italy's Matteo] Salvini on this”, Dr Christian Lequesne told EURACTIV Slovakia in an interview.
Unlike in the past, surveys in Slovakia suggest that the turnout at the EU election will this time rise to over 20%. However, it’s alarming that some of the increase should be attributed to the mobilisation of extreme right voters.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič will take an unpaid leave of absence to run in Slovakia’s presidential elections in May, he confirmed in Bratislava on Friday (18 January).
Some Central and Eastern European leaders are concerned that France and Germany are setting the Brexit agenda and might push for 'no deal', the head of the ECR group in the European Parliament told EURACTIV Slovakia.
When it comes to migration and refugees, the Visegrad 4 governments speak with one voice: the EU should abandon any idea of a compulsory mechanism for refugee relocation. EURACTIV's network reports.
A push towards more intergovernmental decision making in the EU has never been a topic of discussion in the Visegrad format, state secretary for European affairs Ivan Korčok told EURACTIV Slovakia.
If Poland and Hungary are not censured for flouting EU rules, German Euroscepticism is set to rise, weakening public commitment to EU integration, warns foreign policy expert Cornelius Adebahr.
Europe is not taking into account what is really taking place in Hungary -- and there is nothing wrong with the rule of law in the country -- because "the West really needs bad boys" to hold up as a negative example, Hungarian MEP Gyorgy Schopflin told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Central European member states are reluctant to accept refugees. The Slovak government filed a lawsuit against the relocation scheme, followed by Hungary. The European Court of Justice ruled against Poland and the Czech Republic. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has set an ultimatum for the European Commission to take action over lower quality food products being sold in Eastern member states. EURACTIV.sk reports.
In 1998, Vladimir Mečiar, Slovakia’s authoritarian prime minister, signed amnesties for crimes involving the kidnapping of the son of President Michal Kováč in 1995. On Wednesday (5 April), lawmakers voted to overturn the pardons. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Bart Somers is an anomaly: A well-liked Belgian mayor of international standing, who built his reputation on promoting diversity. Mechelen told EURACTIV Slovakia the secrets to his success, and why tolerance is a positive social value
In the Visegrád Group, there is a desire to both strengthen the powers of member states, but also defend the Schengen area, and the four freedoms. Unsurprisingly, talk of treaty change is in the air. Euractiv's Central European partners report.
Theresa May’s 12 point plan has put some meat on the bones of “Brexit means Brexit”. Baroness Dianne Hayter spoke to EURACTIV Slovakia before the prime minister’s speech about a number of issues, including freedom of movement, the next step for the Labour Party and how a post-Brexit UK will look.
With Slovakia handing over the EU presidency to Malta and agreement on a new EU asylum system out of sight, the Visegrád Group remains in opposed to compulsory refugee relocation. EURACTIV Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, and Budapest's Political Capital, report.
Following revelations by a whistleblower, Transparency International has uncovered tricks for funding projects without going through public procurement procedures. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
The European Union can no longer look at data protection with the presumption of guilt but must be flexible and fast in responding to deficiencies, while managing responses based on hard data and analysis, not on emotions stimulated by politicians, Slovakia's deputy prime minister said in an interview with EURACTIV Slovakia.
The rotating presidency of the EU falls to Slovakia in July. But the latest pronouncements on Islam by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico have caused widespread indignation. EURACTIV France reports.
The Visegrad Four countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – made no secret that they oppose the new asylum policy as recently proposed by the European Commission. The EURACTIV network reports.
The majority of refugees do not want to be beggars or dependent on the state, they want to be productive, but right now there are no integration systems in the EU that allow for this, Angeliki Dimitriadi told EURACTIV Slovakia in an exclusive interview.
It is impossible that 20 % of the Dutch voters should take hostage of a common EU policy. The EU created a gifted class of intellectuals and bureaucrats and others, but they really lack a genuine political experience, Ivan Krastev told EURACTIV Slovakia in an exclusive interview.
Robert Fico has managed to form a coalition cabinet composed of four very different parties that brings together centre-left and right-wing parties, nationalists and a Hungarian party. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
The Smer-Social Democrats (Smer-SD) party of Prime Minister Robert Fico lost its majority and will have difficulties forming a coalition government, following elections held on 5 March. The new parliament will be extremely fragmented, with neo-Nazi and protest parties present, leading to speculation about early elections. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
