Brussels, 09/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 9 October, the Party of European Socialists (PES) decided to keep a close eye on the attitude of one of its member parties, the Slovakian party SMER.
This decision comes after a process of explanatory meetings, including a discussion between the Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, himself a member of SMER, with the presidents of the PES, Sergei Stanishev, and of the S&D group at the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, on the sidelines of the plenary session of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg on Monday 5 October (see EUROPE 11395).
The PES party also based its decision on a letter by the SMER party, in which it underlines that it shares and respects social-democratic values and that Slovakia will help anyone in need without discrimination.
Fico, who announced his decision to challenge the decision of the Home Affairs Council on the relocation of 120,000 migrants within the European Union (see EUROPE 11400), earlier criticised the influx of migrants of Muslim origin on the grounds of the coherence of Slovakian society. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)