Rudolf Huliak said he would try to initiate a referendum on Slovakia’s withdrawal from both the EU and NATO, however, a decision on his appointment must first be made on Monday.
Peter Pellegrini, candidate for Speaker of Parliament and leader of the Hlas party commented on Huliak’s statement:
We will insist on a clear anchoring of Slovakia in NATO and the EU in the government’s programme statement.
Pellegrini had earlier warned that if the country changed its foreign policy course, his party would leave Robert Fico’s cabinet.
Fico will meet with nationalists on Monday to decide on Huliak’s appointment. Rudolf Huliak said he would file a constitutional complaint against Čaputová for refusing to appoint him to the post. For her part, Zuzana Čaputová said she was waiting for a new name for the Environment Ministry and would then appoint the full government.
If Monday’s meeting goes effectively and Fico agrees with the nationalists on a new name for the environment ministry, his hopes of attending Thursday’s council meeting could still be realised. Pellegrini expects a new government to be appointed on the day of the first meeting of the new parliament on Wednesday.
The referendum to leave the EU and NATO was an election promise of the far-right party Republika, which had a hard time getting into parliament. Previous attempts to organise similar referendums have been unsuccessful.
Even Huliak’s Slovak National Party said they were in favour of EU “reforms” and that his quote did not reflect their official position. However, Fico supported the candidate and criticised the president for rejecting his nomination.
Fico’s leftist-populist and pro-Russia Smer (Direction) party won the recent Slovak election, announcing that it would form a coalition with the Hlas (Voice) party and SNS. Following that announcement, the Party of European Socialists suspended Smer and Hlas.
