PM Robert Fico (source: TASR)
“This move is raising concerns,” said Pittella in a press release, as qutoed by the TASR newswire on March 17. “He should abandon this political path, because he’s risking being at odds with progressive values and principles.”
He added that S&D will call on the Party of European Socialists (PES) to debate Smer’s membership, as it did in 2006 when Fico first led a coalition that included SNS. Smer had its membership suspended for nearly two years but got it back in 2008 based on its performance in maintaining minority rights and other societal values.
Pittella was involved in a controversy with Smer-SD back in the autumn of 2015, when he called on its ousting from PES over Fico’s attitude towards migrants and Slovakia's lawsuit concerning migrant quotas. Nevertheless, Smer retained its PES membership.
Pittella does not have the faintest idea of how a government is set up, so he should not comment on how the Slovak one is being formed, Fico responded.
“My grandpa used to say: ‘Chose the right words when talking about things you don’t understand’,” said Fico, as quoted by TASR.
