The President of Slovakia did not support a referendum on lifting sanctions against Russia

Pellegrini noted that the Slovak constitution places responsibility on the president for ensuring the legality of referendums.

According to him, if the Slovak president believes that any of the constitutional and legal conditions for holding a referendum have not been met, he cannot announce it. Pellegrini added that this was precisely the case with the petition on sanctions against Russia.

“Therefore, the referendum in question simply cannot be announced,” Pellegrini said at a press conference.

The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary Slovak Renaissance Movement (SHO). The movement's participants wanted Pellegrini to announce a referendum with the question: “Do you agree that the Slovak Republic should not impose sanctions against the Russian Federation that harm Slovak citizens, private entrepreneurs, and companies?”

It is noted that the SHO wanted to use the referendum to put pressure on the Slovak government during negotiations in Brussels. Representatives of the movement claim that sanctions against Russia are harming Slovakia in the form of significant economic losses.

According to the Slovak constitution, the president is obliged to call a referendum if at least 350,000 citizens submit a petition to that effect. The head of state has 30 days from the date of submission of the petition to do so. For the referendum to have a quorum, more than 50% of eligible voters must participate, and the majority of them must support the proposal.

Source: TASR, Ukrinform