Slovakia

Migrant crisis to play heavily in Slovakia election

(3 Mar 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY Bratislava - 2 March 2016 1. Screen showing electoral campaign film for Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico 2. Various of audience watching 3. Fico arriving on stage 4. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Robert Fico, Slovakian Prime Minister: "Let's face it, the Schengen borders are like Swiss cheese. Thousands of people pass through into Europe without control. Yesterday, the overall chief of NATO in Europe, Mr. (Philip) Breedlove, said that along with migrants come thousands of terrorists and fighters for IS (the Islamic State group). That is why safety is the first priority for my government." 5. Various of audience applauding 6. Various of Martin Slosiarik, political analyst, typing at desk 7. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Martin Slosiarik, political analyst: "The Smer-SD (Fico's Direction-Social Democracy) party is definitely going to win these elections; the question is how much are they going to gain. I don't expect that the situation from four years ago will repeat itself - that Smer can form the government on their own. They will definitely need at least one coalition partner to form the government. Most often mentioned is the Slovak National Party (SNS)." 8. Radoslav Prochazka, leader of Siet (Network) party, (right) and supporter in front of poster 9. Supporter pointing at calendar showing days left until election 10. Slogan on poster reading (Slovak) "The Fico government has this many days left." 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Radoslav Prochazka, leader of Siet party: "Well, today the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister (Robert Kalinak) are spending their time at the Greek-Macedonian frontier, 1,200 kilometres from here. There's so much work for this government to do here at home to increase the quality of life for people who live here, citizens of the Slovak Republic. Health care is in terrible shape. We've spent more than 40 billion euros (43.5 billion US dollars) on health care during the eight years of the Smer government, but people don't feel that." 12. Various of Prohachzka talking to staff 13. Various of Slosiarik at desk 14. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Martin Slosiarik, political analyst: "In my opinion, Fico has underestimated the domestic topics. He should, let's say, have concentrated more on the topic of social reforms, push more for those during the election campaign and then today he probably would not have had to react so defensively to the opposition." 15. Various of Fico rally 16. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Robert Fico, Slovakian Prime Minister: "Never, ever, will we bring in even one Muslim to fulfil a quota. Nor will we voluntarily establish unified Muslim communities in Slovakia, as they present a serious security threat." 17. Audience applauding 18. Cameraman 19. Fico leaving rally STORYLINE: With Slovakia's parliamentary election drawing ever closer, Prime Minister Robert Fico is betting heavily on the migrant crisis to help his Smer-SD (Direction-Social Democracy) party stay in power. When voters cast their ballots on Saturday, Fico wants to make sure his message is being heard. "Never, ever, will we bring in even one Muslim to fulfil a quota. Nor will we voluntarily establish unified Muslim communities in Slovakia," said Fico at a rally in Bratislava on Wednesday. Fico said that such communities would represent a "security threat" and is hoping that his hard line stance on the current European migration crisis will be enough to attract voters. Most polls currently see Smer in the lead by a wide margin, but analyst Martin Slosiarik says that is not wide enough to let him govern alone. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cc5c27273a5e98a8c8e17bd4485b60ed Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork