Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) left for Brussels on Wednesday evening for a two-day summit of leaders of European Union (EU) member states at which the main subjects will include competitiveness, measures to reduce high energy prices, the EU's future long-term budget for 2028–2034, and the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday evening, Fico will meet the other prime ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) to coordinate a joint approach, in particular on issues relating to the future EU budget and competitiveness.
On Thursday (15 October), ahead of the summit, the Premier is set to attend a meeting of the Friends of Cohesion group. This group brings together 17 member states that are advocating for the preservation of a strong cohesion policy and sufficient funding for less-developed regions within the next seven-year financial framework.
The two-day European Council summit will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday and will continue until Friday afternoon (16 October). The competitiveness of the European economy is considered to be one of the most important issues on the agenda. At Wednesday's parliamentary meeting Fico stated that the bloc's biggest competitiveness problem is high electricity prices and that it is essential to adopt measures at the EU level. According to the premier, Slovakia, together with the other V4 countries, will also push for a review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
On Thursday afternoon, the leaders will discuss the EU's future multi-annual financial framework for 2028–2034. According to Fico, a political agreement on this must be reached by the end of this year. He pointed out that the EU still faces lengthy negotiations and that member states will have to make compromises. For Slovakia, it's important to maintain sufficient funding in the budget for cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy.
According to the Prime Minister, another important issue will be the war in Ukraine. He emphasised that, as things stand, he sees no reason in the proposed European Council conclusions why he shouldn't support them at the summit. However, discussions on a further EU loan for Ukraine are also on the table, and, according to Fico, Slovakia will once again refrain from joining this initiative.
Source: TASR
