BRATISLAVA, January 3, (WEBNOVINY) — At this Wednesday’s meeting with heads of all eight counties of Slovakia, President Ivan Gasparovic said that collaboration of counties with the state administration is still not ideal ten years after they were established. “We are still far from cooperation of regional self-governments with state administration being perfect. You have great responsibility on your shoulders because of your competencies and lack of funds to fulfill those competencies,” said Gasparovic.
The president received a Declaration of Counties adopted on the tenth anniversary of their establishment in a reform move that decentralized local government. In the Declaration, the heads of counties declare the will to cooperate with European regions. “We consider it important for the future to preserve at least the current degree of decentralization. The counties showed their viability and efficiency of efforts and resources for the well-being of their citizens,” Trnava County Chairman Tibor Mikus quoted from the declaration at the presidential palace in Bratislava.
The head of the state also criticized the ruling coalition in government after the 2010 elections. “It was clear from the beginning that cooperation between the political parties in this coalition cannot be successful. None of us is happy that it ended like this, none of us is happy that it was exactly at this time when we least needed it,” said Gasparovic, adding that politics at the national level cannot be exercised by beginners.
The Slovak government collapsed after it lost a confidence vote in parliament connected with the first vote on extension of the European Financial Stability Facility in October 2011 after one of the four coalition partners, the neo-liberal SaS refused to support the extended EFSF.
SITA