BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Slovakia ratified the expansion of a European rescue fund, giving eurozone countries a key tool to address the debt crisis while boosting the euro.
The vote by Slovakia Thursday ended a nearly 3-month process to gain approval in the 17 countries that use the euro, The New York Times reported Friday.
Internal tensions in Slovakia delayed enactment of the measure, which needed the approval of all 17 countries that use the euro. A vote in the Slovak Parliament failed Tuesday, bringing down the government after one of the four governing coalition parties refused to back the deal.
Slovakia agreed to contribute about $10 billion in debt guarantees out of about $590 billion, the Times said.
In a joint statement, Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, and Herman Van Rompuy, European Council president, said the rescue fund, called the European Financial Stability Facility, was "fully operational."
The rescue fund "provides us with a stronger, more flexible tool to defend the financial stability of the euro area," the statement said. "This is in the clear interest of every one of the 17 member states directly concerned, as well as for the wider European Union."
