Slovakia postpones vote on treaty again

SLOVAKIA:Slovakia's ruling coalition postponed a vote to ratify the new EU treaty for a second time yesterday, after opposition parties again boycotted parliament in protest at a government-backed media law that rights watchdogs say threatens press freedom.

The populist government of prime minister Robert Fico postponed the vote - just as it did on Wednesday - after only 85 members of the 150-seat parliament turned up to the session. Ninety votes are needed to ratify the treaty, which all EU members must approve to allow the bloc to overhaul its institutions and decision-making processes.

After the first postponement, Mr Fico refused to withdraw a new press code that has stoked tension between the media and his coalition, which includes the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS).

"The government . . . sees no reason to link the ratification of the vital European reform treaty with the proposed media law," Mr Fico said. "This is blackmail, to which the governing coalition will never surrender." He met EU ambassadors to Slovakia to discuss the delay to ratification, and said afterwards that member states were "shocked" that the opposition was blocking the new, slimmed-down treaty over "domestic political disputes".

Slovak president Ivan Gasparovic also condemned the opposition boycott, calling it a "reprehensible" step that would "weaken the position of Slovakia as a trustworthy partner".

Former premier Mikulas Dzurinda, whose reformist policies led Slovakia into the EU and Nato and sparked a surge in economic growth, accused Mr Fico of over-reacting, and insisted that parliament could ratify the treaty at a later date.

Mr Fico ousted the centre-right Mr Dzurinda in 2006, backed by the many poor Slovaks who felt no benefit from EU membership or a wave of foreign investment into their country.

Mr Fico's alliance with the SNS immediately put him at odds with the EU, however, as has his opposition to Kosovo's impending declaration of independence.

Passage of the new media law is seen as a showdown between the pugnacious Mr Fico and his critics, with opponents of the Bill receiving support from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe democracy watchdog.