Bratislava, 14 May 1997 (RFE/RL) - Slovakia's Prime Minister and a top opposition leader have agreed to let Parliament discuss some of the bitter domestic policy disputes between them.
Vladimir Meciar and Christian Democratic Party leader Jan Carnogursky signed the agreement in Bratislava yesterday. The signing comes after Meciar's ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and its two coaltion parties have long blocked discussions of a number of controversial issues in the Slovak Legislature.
Carnogursky said disputes which should be discussed include the absence of the opposition from parliamentary committees on the news media, on privatization, and on the country's secret services.
The opposition leader today quoted Meciar as saying that EU representatives have told the Slovak leader that unless Slovakia resolves certain disputed issues, talks on the admission of Slovakia to the EU cannot begin.
Carnogursky said German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and European Union Commissioner Leon Brittan raised some of Solvakia's domestic policy disputes with the government while on recent visits to Bratislava.