France rejects Fico's claims of foreign pressure on top Slovak court
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Fico's Smer-SD party published a photo of ambassadors from the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg meeting with Constitutional Court President Ivan Fiačan, calling the visits 'suspicious' as the court reviews a controversial law on NGO transparency.
A day earlier, Fico alleged that the diplomats were pressuring the court to rule the law unconstitutional.
The French embassy firmly denied the allegation, clarifying that the meeting in question took place in March, before the law had even been adopted, and was publicly shared at the time.
'The Embassy does not interfere in the internal affairs of the Slovak Republic and therefore did not attempt to influence the President of the Court on a law that had not yet been adopted at the time of the meeting,' the Embassy wrote on Wednesday.
It added that meetings between ambassadors and judicial officials are standard diplomatic practice and said the goal was to foster cooperation between Slovakia's Constitutional Court and France's Constitutional Council as a way to strengthen the rule of law.
Slovakia's Constitutional Court also dismissed Fico's claim, saying it does not tolerate attempts to discredit its work and never discusses ongoing cases with third parties.
'False and baseless statements targeting the court constitute a serious and unacceptable attack on judicial impartiality and independence, contradict the principles of the rule of law, and unjustifiably undermine the constitutional order of the Slovak Republic,' it said.
Fico's accusations came as he also claimed the UK had interfered in Slovakia's elections - an allegation strongly denied by London.
Opposition party Progressive Slovakia suggested Fico is trying to deflect attention from unpopular government plans, such as a reported VAT increase to 25% VAT, which the finance ministry has so far denied.
(de)
(Natália Silenská, Euractiv.sk)
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