Region: Slovakia bows out of Greece loan

By Beata Balogová

For the Slovak Spectator

Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's recommendation to reject any share of the costs of the multibillion euro rescue loan for Greece found sympathetic ears in Slovakia's Parliament, but Parliament's Aug. 11 decision did not find so friendly a reception in Brussels.

Of the 79 MPs from the ruling coalition parties, only two from the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) voted in favor of the loan that would have cost Slovakia up to 816 million euros over the next three years. After the ballot, Mária Sabolová of KDH said she had made a mistake while voting and intended to vote against approving the loan.

In the 150-member Parliament, 69 deputies voted against the loan to Greece, and 13 members of KDH abstained from voting. MPs from the largest opposition party, Smer, did not attend the vote.

"One has to choose solidarity not greed," KDH's Anton Marcinčin, who voted in favor of the loan money, told the daily Sme.

The speaker of Parliament, Richard Sulík of the Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS), said that if Slovakia manages its finances well enough, it will not need such solidarity from another country.

"Sooner or later Greece will have to leave the eurozone, and with different loans we are only prolonging this agony and preventing a solution that will be painful but nevertheless would be quickly done," Sulík said.

The European Commission was less than satisfied with the result of the vote.

"I can only regret this breach of solidarity within the eurozone," said Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs.

Rehn expects European finance ministers to return to this issue at their next meeting. Rehn said he does not expect Slovakia's decision to threaten the functioning of the loan mechanism.

Representatives of the ruling coalition offered a different idea on the definition of solidarity.

"When solidarity of the poor with the rich, or the responsible with the irresponsible, or taxpayers with bank owners or managers is the question, I do not consider it solidarity," said Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš shortly before the vote.

Opposition abstains

Smer MPs said they do not oppose the loan to Greece if that country meets all its obligations in line with the recovery plan approved by the international community. Saying this cannot be evaluated at the moment, Smer wanted to postpone the parliamentary discussion until September, the TASR newswire reported.

While rejecting the direct loan aid to Greece, Parliament nevertheless approved Slovakia's participation in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), based on the government's recommendation to do so. Last month, the four parties of the ruling coalition, SDKÚ, SaS, KDH and Most-Híd, had signaled their approval of the 750 billion euro program designed to ensure future stability in the eurozone.

Of the 142 deputies present for the parliamentary vote, 140 lawmakers voted in favor of that program. The only ruling coalition deputy who voted against the proposal was Most-Hid's Ondrej Dostál. Anna Belousovová, the first vice chairwoman of the opposition Slovak National Party (SNS), abstained.

The EFSF plan was developed in response to EU concerns about the financial stability of the eurozone, which has been shaken by Greece's public debt woes and concerns about the financial condition of several other eurozone countries. In early May, eurozone finance ministers, including Slovakia's finance minister at the time, Ján Počiatek, agreed to a multibillion-euro rescue loan to Greece, with Slovakia expected to contribute 800 million euros.

Slovakia's share of the costs in establishing the EFSF will be about 4.4 billion euros. Mikloš said last month that Počiatek and the previous government had failed to negotiate a fair deal for Slovakia.

"If Slovakia is supposed to contribute 2.3 times more in terms of GDP ratio than the wealthiest EU country, Luxembourg, it's evident the conditions have been negotiated poorly," Mikloš said.

Radičová and Mikloš visited Brussels July 13 to speak with EU officials, including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, about the safety net program. They had hoped to secure better conditions on the Greek loan but were directly told that these terms were no longer negotiable.

Beata Balogová can be reached at news@praguepost.com