On February 6, Hannes Swoboda, an Austrian Member of European Parliament for the Party of European Socialists (PES), visited Slovakia to meet with Prime Minister Robert Fico.
According to the Sme daily, the controversial revisions to the Press Code are the last hurdle for Smer to overcome before it can return to full membership in PES.
Smer had expected to be reinstated on February 14, but will probably have to wait until the spring.
"If the OSCE says that the revision to the press bill includes provisions that seriously threaten the freedom of speech and Smer does not take that into account, it will definitely have an influence on resuming its membership," Swoboda told the daily. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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