Ethnic-Hungarian SMK party leader Pal Csáky told the TASR newswire on December 11 that he won't stand as an SMK candidate for the post of Member of the European Parliament (MEP), adding that this has been agreed on by the party's council.
Csáky said that the future political scene in Slovakia will be turbulent, and that the party chairman has a duty to remain in the country. The SMK council has so far received 18 MEP nominations for candidates from district party associations. Among these are SMK council chairman Ivan Farkaš, his deputy József Berényi, and SMK caucus chairman Gyula Bárdos. Csáky said that the party wants its candidates to have a real chance in the elections and intends to put forward people who are ready to go to Brussels and work as MEPs.
Current SMK MEP Edit Bauer has also been nominated, but the name of the party's other incumbent MEP Arpád Duka-Zolyomi hasn't been put forward. The party wants to choose its list of candidates by secret ballot at its council meeting on Saturday, December 13. The council members will also focus on internal party issues, next year's budget, Slovak-Hungarian relations, and SMK's strategy for the European Parliament (EP) elections, which are due to take place next year. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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