BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s principal center-left political household on Friday kicked out the occasion of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who’s accused of cozying as much as Russian President Vladimir Putin whereas undermining the rule of regulation in his personal nation.
The Occasion of European Socialists voted unanimously to expel Fico’s Smer occasion for taking political positions lately that contradict “severely and deeply the values and rules our household stands for,” Secretary-Basic Giacomo Filibeck mentioned.
“It is a unanimous, clear message. If you happen to belong to the PES household, you share the values that all of us do,” Filibeck mentioned after the vote at a gaggle congress in Amsterdam.
In Could, Fico was the one chief of a European Union nation to journey to Moscow for festivities marking the eightieth anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World Struggle II, regardless of EU requires a boycott.
Fico, who’s a divisive determine at house and overseas, returned to energy in 2003 after his leftist Smer, or Path, occasion gained a parliamentary election on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform.
Identified for his pro-Russian views, he has brazenly challenged the bloc’s insurance policies on Ukraine. Slovakia is presently holding up the newest package deal of EU sanctions in opposition to Russia.
