The European Commission pressed Slovakia on Friday to approve the expansion of the eurozone debt rescue fund, while warning it could not opt out of paying its own contribution.
Slovakia is among four nations in the 17-state eurozone that have yet to get parliamentary approval to boost the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), amid divisions within the country's ruling coalition.
“The euro has been very, very beneficial for Slovakia,” Amadeu Altafaj, the European Commission's economic affairs spokesman, told a news briefing.
“It is in the self-interest of Slovakia's citizens and politicians to endorse these enhancements,” he said, noting that Bratislava, along with all other eurozone members, backed the EFSF overhaul at a crisis summit in July.
“So it should be ratified by the parliament, hopefully, soon,” he said, warning that there was no “Plan B” for the eurozone.
The EFSF cleared a major hurdle on Thursday when the German parliament approved new powers for the the 440-billion-euro ($590
billion) bailout fund.
Slovakia's share in the fund is 7.7 billion euros in state guarantees, a sum that has sparked controversy in one of the eurozone's poorest member states.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova, a centrist, officially supports boosting the EFSF but a eurosceptic junior member of her four-party coalition, the Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS), has repeatedly vowed to torpedo the fund's passage.
The SaS says it is futile to throw good money after bad in light of a probable Greek default.
The party said for the first time this week that it could support the EFSF increase, but only if there is no cost to the Slovak taxpayer.
However the deputy head of the European Union's executive, Slovak Maros Sefcovic, said Friday that Bratislava would have to pay its share.
“I can't imagine any renegotiation of the agreements that have been already settled and ratified by other countries,” Sefcovic told reporters in the Slovakian capital.
“Slovakia is risking its trustworthiness dramatically... and causing nervousness on the markets,” he warned.
Radicova called for a vote before an October 17 EU summit, but the parliament speaker said this week that legislators would act on October 25, making it the last country to decide.
Among the three other holdouts, Austria was expected to vote on Friday while the Netherlands and Malta are to vote in October. - Sapa-AFP