Proof of responsibility” “

Great Britain and the Netherlands were the first two countries to open, on 10 June, the historic election, the first after the enlargement of 1st May, for the renewal of the European Parliament. They will be followed, in succession, by all the rest between 11 and 13 June. The elections are eagerly awaited: for the first time the ten new accession countries, Malta, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, will be protagonists in the construction of Europe. Excepting Cyprus and Malta, all the other [new accession] countries were behind the Iron Curtain, ruled by Communist regimes, where fair and free elections were never held and the democratic exercise of the vote was never permitted. We publish a reflection by Marian Gavenda , spokesman of the Slovak Episcopal Conference, who, on the eve of the European elections, points out the dangers of abstention posed in the new member countries and also the efforts of the Churches to prevent it by their appeals for a responsible vote (see also page 2). A total of 188 candidates, presented by 17 political parties, are competing for the 14 seats allocated to Slovakia’s members in the European Parliament. Some of these parties have placed at the top of their electoral lists politicians who combine fine professional qualities with long political experience; others by contrast have preferred celebrities from the world of sport and show business. The electoral campaign, however, has been lacking in contents and in programmes. It has been limited to superficial questions or empty slogans, shouted rather than argued. Many words have been lavished on the salaries of future MEPs – which to ordinary people seem enormous – rather than on explaining how the European Parliament works or the importance of the decisions it will take. I would say that the main concern of the political parties has been to persuade citizens to vote. However the signals sent out by the pre-electoral opinion polls are hardly encouraging: only 25% of the population have declared their intention to participate in the ballot this weekend. Election fatigue? Perhaps. Suffice it to say that Slovakians have already been called to vote three times in recent months, either in referendums or presidential elections (April 2004). The elections are seen not as a test of European convictions but as rivalry between the individual political parties. Candidates of various parties have met the faithful at the end of church services and in other venues frequented by Christians. Other politicians, they too worried by the prospect of poor voter turnout, have urged electors to vote, if only to prevent the election of representatives of the Hungarian minority, who, according to them, would support the policy of Budapest. To avoid the haemorrhage of voters and high voter abstention, the Churches, the Ecumenical Council of the Churches and the Slovak Episcopal Conference have repeatedly urged the faithful to vote, The bishops, in a pastoral letter issued in the run up to the elections, underlined the moral responsibility of citizens to vote, and urged them to recall the values of solidarity, justice and peace that form part of the Christian heritage too often forgotten by the political groups in Brussels. Little more than a month has elapsed since the entry of Slovakia and nine other countries into the EU: it seems that life goes on as normal. The problems remain what they were before: healthcare, the economic and social situation and the high degree of corruption. In the mass media the attempts to sideline information on the life of the Church, and reduce the presence of religious programmes, are becoming stronger. But to construct Europe, time, patience, prudence and courage are needed. Marian Gavenda spokesman of the Slovak Episcopal Conference