Slovakia is shocked by the president's refusal to hold a referendum on lifting sanctions against Russia

Slovakia is shocked that President Peter Pellegrini refused to hold a referendum on lifting European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia, since in case of doubt about the petition, the head of state had to send it to the Constitutional Court for evaluation. This was announced on June 4 by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the head of the Slovak National Party (SNS), which is part of the government coalition, Andrei Danko.

"If the president is not sure whether it complies with the laws of the Slovak Republic, then there is a Constitutional Court for this. I am shocked that the president made this decision personally," the TA3 TV channel quoted the politician as saying.

Danko ironically remarked that Pellegrini's courage, which ignored several hundred thousand signatures, "can only be admired." According to the head of the SNS, the referendum is "the greatest institution of democracy," and such a large number of votes should not be taken lightly. They should be examined with care, and also sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in case of doubt about authenticity.

On behalf of the SNS, the politician also expressed support for all those who collected signatures and promised legal protection for them.

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Earlier in the day, Pellegrini announced at a press conference at the presidential palace that it was impossible to hold a referendum in Slovakia on lifting sanctions against Russia, since the petition for it did not meet the necessary requirements. The Head of State explained that the document was not drafted as it should be, therefore, there were no legal conditions for declaring a referendum.

April 22, Slovak activist and chairman of the DOMOV party ("Dom — National Party") Pavol Slota stated that the petition for a referendum against sanctions against the Russian Federation had collected the legally established limit of 350,000 signatures. In total, the document was signed by 356,593 thousand citizens. Later, on May 5, the extra-parliamentary party of the Slovak Renaissance Movement (SDV) submitted a petition asking for a referendum to Pellegrini's office.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on May 17 that he would support a referendum on the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions in his country if such a vote took place. The head of the Slovak government stressed that sanctions against Russia often harm the European Union itself.