Members of the referendum committee agreed that a referendum on Slovakia’s European Union (EU) entry will be held on May 16-17 and citizens will answer the question: „do you agree that Slovakia should become a European Union member country?“ Deputy Prime Minister for national minorities Pal Csaky and deputy speaker of parliament Pavol Hrusovsky met the committee on which all parliamentary parties have their representatives. The parliament should discuss the issue at its special session on January 21. After publishing parliament’s decision, President Rudolf Schuster will decide on the time scale for holding the referendum, while Mr. Hrusovsky is certain that the president is prepared to respect the agreement reached by parliamentary parties.

At the next meeting of the referendum committee, which according to Mr. Hrusovsky has taken political responsibility for the preparations, flow and results of the national vote, will discuss the strategy of the pre-referendum campaign and coordination of the operation of some political parties and the Slovak Cabinet. „The opposition and coalition have found accord over the issue. I am certain that it will be exactly this accord that will lead to success,“ said Mr. Hrusovsky.

According to Mr. Csaky, a preliminary parliamentary party agreement that they would not lead a separate campaign before the referendum but harmonize their steps, is significant. The cabinet will decide on the concrete campaign financing within two weeks. Initially, the cabinet is considering throwing SKK 50 million into the campaign.