Slovakia heads towards another vote for bailout fund
Steve Chiotakis: Talks are underway today in Slovakia to try again and pass an expansion of the European bailout fund. It’s the last country in the eurozone to vote. The parliament there voted down the measure yesterday, with many members saying the country is too poor to have to bail out other, richer European nations.
Martin Poliacik is one of those members of Parliament who voted against the measure, and he’s on the line with us from Bratislava. Hello sir.
Martin Poliacik: Hello, nice to hear you again.
Chiotakis: Why have you objected to this?
Poliacik: Our objection was that the whole euro saving mechanism, in our opinion, is not going to work, because you can’t solve debt by creating new debt without real measures that would make other members of the euro area fulfill the criteria and fulfill the rules. They were not able to meet them in the time of economic growth, why should they be able to meet them in the time of crisis?
Chiotakis: Aren’t you concerned, though, that by sort of standing in the way of this going forward that you could possibly hurt the whole eurozone and perhaps even bring down the economy?
Poliacik: I agree the economy might get lower, but it’s a part of the cycle — that’s what the markets are about. But we shouldn’t intervene in a way that there will be a false hope of the markets that the money is going to get back, but we won’t get the money ever coming back. We are pouring it into a black hole — just buying time — without any hope of a solution in the future.
Chiotakis: Is there anything the European Union can do to allay your fears — or as you say — this irresponsibility there?
Poliacik: Right now, we are in a position where we are kind of out of the game right now and it’s on the rest of the Slovak politicians to find a solution. They believe that the euro bailout is a good way to go, and I don’t like to see it. But it’s probable that the vote is going to be repeated and there’s a quite relevant chance that it will pass in a few days.
Chiotakis: Martin Poliacik, a member of the Freedom and Solidarity Party and a member of the Slovakian parliament, thank you sir.
Poliacik: Thank you for calling and have a nice day in Los Angeles.
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