"The consolidation so far has been based mostly on the fact that we are going to increase taxes. And of course, in that case the economy will start to weaken. And when the economy weakens, it will not generate the revenues that it needs for the budget," explains Ódor. According to him, the current measures - higher VAT, transaction tax and increased contributions for middle-income people and self-employed people - are limiting economic activity, which paradoxically reduces the expected state revenues.
Ódor points out that the consolidation is primarily focused on increasing state revenues, while measures on the expenditure side are minimal and specific steps are still unknown. “If they had done a proper consolidation in the first year, we wouldn’t have to talk about these things now. But they are consolidating as if with an old rusty saw, not an axe – we’ll do it once and then there will be peace,” he notes. According to his experience from 2003 and 2011, it is possible to reduce the deficit by 3–4% of GDP in one year if the consolidation is carried out systematically and vigorously.
Ódor received the most votes in the European elections
The targeting of state aid is another problem. Ódor criticizes the current subsidies and 13th pensions, which he believes do not achieve their goal."In Slovakia, the targeting of money is still a problem. Those who are really in a bad situation should receive aid. And if we could do it right, we would have saved 100 million in public finances and we would not have to raise VAT or burden entrepreneurs," he says. According to him, better selectivity of aid would reduce pressure on the economy and enable more efficient use of public resources.
He is also critical of the current political debate on the deficit and public debt. Although the government often criticizes previous administrations, Ódor points out that since the accession of Finance Minister Kamenický, the state debt has increased by 13 billion euros, while during his tenure and the short period without parliamentary support it increased by 3.8 billion euros."What is most disruptive to the debates are absolute lies. The European Commission, the OECD, the Monetary Fund, the National Bank of Slovakia are basically saying the same thing, and the Minister of Finance is rejecting their reality," he emphasizes.
According to Ódor, the government needs to not only collect more money, but also invest effectively and save where it makes sense."It's not just about money, but also about what we get for it. If the Minister of Finance doesn't live in reality, how does he even want to fix the economy?" he concludes.
Ódor: Čaputová did not commit any fraud, when Ódor was prime minister he hardly knew Šimečka
When Ľudovít Ódor (PS) was the prime minister of the government of officials, he hardly knew the chairman of the PS, Michal Šimečka. This was stated by Ódor, an MEP for Progressive Slovakia, in an interview with the SITA agency, thus refuting speculation that former president Zuzana Čaputová committed fraud on citizens when she appointed Ódor, with connections to the PS, as the prime minister of experts.
Ódor said that it would be a problem if he had been a member of the PS movement before becoming prime minister."Because how can I be in a party and go to a non-partisan government? But the other way around, it's absolutely no problem. After all, a person can decide to go to a political party at any time.
"I'm not even a member," Ódor pointed out, adding that if someone says that the president committed some kind of fraud, it's not true, because she had the constitutional right to do so. According to him, speculation that Ódor was an unofficial party member at the time is a lie. He admitted that he didn't know PS chairman Šimečka very well at the time. At the same time, he noted that the government of officials was a mix of members of different opinion spectrums."It's very interesting that many people were there who had previously been in the KDH. There were also those who were closer to the liberal parties, but it was a really well-mixed government," Ódor added. He also supported his claims by saying that if it comes to critics naming at least one measure that the then government took to favor the PS, they can't say anything.
From his current position as an MEP, Ódor also addressed the statements of several Slovak MEPs that the MEPs for the Socialist Party are urging the EU not to give Slovakia money and that they are damaging Slovakia's good name in the European Parliament."Let them show us one case where we said that. They won't find a single case, because we don't do that," said Ódor. According to him, what the MEPs for the Socialist Party want is for European money to go where it is needed and reach the people.
"Now we have saved 200 million for the regions, because the government wanted to take it away from the regions. So our task is to protect the money that we may lose due to the government's incompetence," Ódor added, adding that the current government is the mastermind behind why Slovakia may lose EU funds. In this context, he mentioned, for example, changes to the Criminal Code, the construction of haciendas using EU funds, and corruption.
Ódor also said that no one in the European Parliament has ever said that they perceive Slovakia badly because of the Socialist Party. On the contrary, according to him, they perceive intensely what the current government is doing, that the prime minister is meeting with a war criminal and that Slovakia does not want to cut itself off from Russian gas or oil."So, if someone is causing shame there, it is absolutely clear who. And I am not talking about those very basic things, when our MEP from the Republic told another colleague to shut up. That is really extreme rudeness. And they are criticizing us," Ódor added, adding that people in European structures have the internet and are watching what is happening in Slovakia."They see it exactly. They see what shame this government is actually causing," the MEP added.
