STRASBOURG, France, July 5 (UPI) -- Europe's socialists have condemned Slovakia's new coalition government made up of leftist and far-right nationalist parties.
"This coalition is unacceptable," said Martin Schultz, president of the socialist group at the European Parliament, Paris' Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday.
Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic Tuesday appointed Robert Fico, leader of the social-democratic SMER party, as Slovakia's new prime minister. The SMER party won parliamentary elections June 17.
Fico's new coalition government was composed of the far-right nationalist party, led by Jan Slota, and the party of Vladimir Meciar, the former authoritarian premier.
The European Socialists group in Strasbourg Tuesday asked the SMER party to be suspended from the European Socialist group.
The announcement of the Slovak center-left, far-right coalition cabinet, has also drawn condemnation from foreign diplomats and government officials across Europe.
Socialist groups in France and Germany have condemned the Slovak coalition.
In Hungary, news media expressed fears for some 500,000 ethnic-Hungarians in Slovakia, recalling that ultra-nationalist Slota recently suggested Slovak tanks advance on Budapest.
