Slovakia and the Euro

Bratislava is struggling. On Monday, Slovakia's governing coalition failed make a deal to prevent a collapse of the continent-wide plan to help indebted European nations.Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said her four-party coalition was unable to compromise a deal. The Slovak government sat down for three hours, and the only thing they agreed on is that the coalition will talk further on Tuesday, when the Slovak Parlament is scheduled to vote on the EU bailout found. Up until now, only Slovakia and an even smaller partner Malta, have not backed up the plan. However, Malta is expected to approve the plan later on Monday, making Slovakia the only undecided member of the Euro-zone. All 17 nations that use the euro must approve expanding the bailout fund, which is designed to strengthen Europe's defenses against the debt crisis, that is growing fast.

Slovakia, a nation with 5.5 million people, would contribute about 1 percent of the money needed or 7.7 billion euros. The outcome of the Slovak parliamentary vote is uncertain because of a member of the coalition, that  is strictly opposed to increasing the fund. Sulik, the chairman of the opposing party,  said that they are trying to find a compromise deal that would prevent Slovak taxpayers from "paying a cent", however his proposal was rejected by the other parties. The proposal called for the creation of a parliamentary committee that would review any future loans from the fund with a right to veto it. Analysts have warned that a Slovak vote against boosting the fund would send a bad signal to already nervous financial markets about the inability of euro-zone countries to unite to tackle the debt crisis. Slovakia is too small of a country to face the euro-zone's debt crisis and its consequences alone.With the help of EU funds and foreign investments, Slovakia has benefited significantly from its membership in the euro-zone and the EU, and is quickly becoming a leading European car exporter. This is a important and scary situation for Slovakia, because nobody wants to back down. Slovakia needs the EU even more then any other members, and cannot afford to turn their back to them in their time of need, despite the fact that the country it self has nothing left to give or lend, especially to stronger countries. With such chaos and changes in views, Slovakia is threatened to not stay a member, which would result in a tragic blow for the economy. Car companies, such as Kia or Volkswagen would move their factories to other countries, and Slovakia would be left in ruins.

"It might have started from Greece because of the very high debt and excessive deficit, but the crisis has spread all over Europe, so there must be an action, a unanimous action, a unanimous decision from all members to protect the European Union at this point." said Stratis Polychroneas, head of fixed income at Solidus Securities in Athens.