[autom.vertaling] De EU waarschuwt de Slowaken voor stemming voor Meciar (en)
The EU is issuing a warning to the Slovakians: The result of this week's national elections will be decisive for the country's EU and NATO membership. "Vote with widely open eyes," says EU Commissioner Verheugen to the Slovakians.
On Friday and Saturday the Slovakians are to choose a new national parliament. If the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), headed by former prime minister Vladimir Meciar, wins, the country's EU and NATO membership chances will be jeopardized, according to several diplomats, quoted by Danish paper Politiken.
"This is the most important election in the historey of the young Slovak democracy. The result of the election will decide whether the country will reach its goal: full EU membership and full integration in NATO. Slovakia needs a government which Europe and the USA can trust," says EU enlargement commissioner Günther Verheugen, who also advises the Slovaks to vote with "widely open eyes," quoted by Politiken. Mr Verheugen is seconded by Austrian prime minister Wolfgang Schüssel, who appealed to the Slovaks to vote for their present prime minister, Mikulaus Dzurinda, from the Christian Democratic Union.
Vladimir Meciar was was Slovakia's prime minister until 1998, and his policy was the chief reason for Slovakia's not obtaining NATO membership in 1999 along with Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The chief objections raised are to his nationalism and undemocratic treatment of ethnic minorities.
The latest polls give 18-19 per cent of the votes to Mr Meciar, while Mr Dzurinda, the incumbent, can only expect 10-12 per cent, according to Politiken.