EU criticism over rule of law is misleading, Slovak government says
(Reuters) - The Slovak government rejected criticism on Wednesday from the European Commission over the state of rule of law in the country, saying it was misleading.
The Commission, the EU executive, raised concerns over a reform of the criminal law and dissolution of a special prosecution office dealing with graft, and over judicial and media independence in an annual rule of law report it released by last month.
"We consider this year's chapter on the situation in the area of rule of law in Slovakia to be unbalanced and, in some parts, even grossly misleading," the government said in a document reacting to the EU report.
Despite intensive dialogue with the Commission, the government, led by the populist SMER-SSD party under Prime Minister Robert Fico, said it did not get room to comment on information from third sources that was used in the final report.
"Numerous evaluations.. in the report are based on articles form three daily newspapers that are solely anti-government," it said.
The Slovak government has faced opposition protests and criticism from the Commission since taking power in October 2023 and rushing through a criminal law reform that eased punishments for financial crimes and shortened statutes of limitations.
The government also rejected concerns that the fight against corruption would be weakened by a planned cancellation of a serious crime unit in September, saying the agenda would be taken over by another newly created unit.
The government has also revamped the public television and radio broadcaster, raising the Commission's concerns over its future independence.
Fico has long blamed independent media and non-governmental organisations for waging a campaign against his party.
The EU has said it would launch legal action against Slovakia if it approved a proposal, making its way through parliament, to require non-government organisations to register themselves as "foreign agents" if they receive foreign funding.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; editing by Barbara Lewis)
