The President of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, has proposed to suspend the Slovak premier Robert Fico's party (SMER) from the Party of European Socialists (PES) during a meeting of progressive leaders in Brussels ahead of this afternoon's European Council.

He said:

"The position made clear by Mr Robert Fico that the 'mass migration of Muslim immigrants who would start to build mosques will not to be tolerated' or regarding  the ´restriction of the freedom of Muslims in Europe´ or again  that ´Slovakia is built for Slovaks, not for minorities´, has embarrassed the whole Progressive family."

"The persistent unwillingness to take responsibility and show solidarity in the framework of the refugee crisis contrasts with our values and political convictions. You cannot merely call yourself a progressive; you must also show it in your words and actions. Therefore, I propose that the President of PES, Mr. Stanishev, begin the procedure for the suspension of SMER and in parallel invite Mr Fico to clarify his positions in front of PES."