PM Iveta Radicova will be having a working lunch today, 14 September, with the ambassadors from EU member states. The meeting will take place at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Bratislava and will be led by Belgian Ambassador to Slovakia, Alain Cools.
A key point of the meeting should be Slovakia’s recent refusal to participate in the EU loan bail-out scheme for Greece, which would have seen Slovakia lend the country some EUR 800 million.
The loan had already been endorsed by former government shortly before the elections, but Radicová’s cabinet decided to stand down from the agreement, and it is sticking to its decision even after pressure from the EU.
Many EU countries are now annoyed at the stance of Slovakia, and various top officials of the EU 27 have made their personal opinions known recently via the media, insisting that Slovakia should be reprimanded for its action.
Opposition MP and former prime minister Robert Fico, who agreed to the loan mechanism, has also called on the ambassadors for a working lunch, and it looks like this will take place on Thursday.