Slovakia rejects euro zone bailout fund – for now

Slovakia’s parliament has rejected the plan to expand the euro zone’s rescue fund and by doing so brought the government down too.

Being the last of the 17-member bloc to vote on extending the European Financial Stability Facility, all eyes were on Bratislava.

Prime Minister Iveta Radicova had made the issue into a vote of confidence to try to prevent one of her coalition partners from opposing the bailout fund. She failed and her government collapsed.

“No leader can support this no vote because we all know, including my coalition partners, that the Slovak Republic has only one chance to help our citizens get through this painful period of deep crisis. It can only be done by cooperation with our partner states in the EU,” said Iveta Radicova.

The outgoing government does hope to pass the measure by the end of the week with opposition support.

But even if the obligatory unanimous approval of the fund is achieved, analysts want the EFSF enlarged even further.

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