Joseph Daul, parliamentary caucus leader of the European People's Party, which groups centre-right parties in the European Parliament, has condemned a recent critical statement about ethnic minorities in Slovakia by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico accused ethnic minorities of 'blackmailing' the rest of Slovakia.
"The statements of the Slovak premier are unacceptable,” the TASR newswire quoted Daul as saying. “I sharply condemn his nationalistic perspective on minorities, whether they be ethnic or religious. There's no room for such statements in contemporary Europe," he said, adding that rather than berate minorities for their inability to serve the interests of all Slovak citizens, Fico should devote more time to tackling domestic economic problems and the drastic growth of unemployment in Slovakia. "Europe has to react immediately whenever civil and human rights or the rights of minorities are endangered," Daul said.
Sources: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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