! ! To EGP Member Parties, Council Delegates From EGP Committee Date 30 September 2016

EGP Committee Proposal for withdrawal membership Strana Zelenych (SZ),

After a Fact Finding Mission to Bratislava on 9-10 February 2016, the EGP Committee agreed in its meeting of March 2016 to start the procedure for withdrawal of membership of Strana Zelenych, Slovakia. The member party and the delegates at the Council in Utrecht (May 2016) have been informed about this proposal. The procedure was started based on the fact that after continuous efforts from the EGP Committee to set up and maintain communication with Strana Zelenych no progress was made and our pleads for information on the party structure, activities and status were not answered. Secondly, already the rare encounters over the years with Strana Zelenych were based on meetings and communication with one person, leaving a strong feeling that this is “One man show”, without party membership and structure behind it. Thus, the party does not comply significantly with the membership criteria as listed in the EGP Rule Book and the EGP Committee took the necessary steps.

Below you will find:

1. A table with the Membership Criteria (Article 2 of the Rule Book) on one side and the subsequent comments on the compliance of Strana Zelenych on the other side.

2. Article 6.5 and 6.6 of the Rule Book; Disciplinary measures and Decision to expel a Member

3. Timeline: Facts and communications with Strana Zelenych, Slovakia in the period 2006 – present. (The dossier backing up this timeline will be available for consultation upon request at the Glasgow Council).

4. Conclusions and Proposal

5. Annexes o Annex 1: Party registration of the Ministry of Interior, Slovakia o Annex 2: March 2016 election campaign website – Facebook pages of the candidates o Annex 3: Overview participation of Strana Zelenych at EGP Councils (2004-present) o Annex 4: Report Fact-Finding Mission, Bratislava, 9-10 February 2016

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! ! 1. Article 2 Membership Criteria, EGP Rule Book 2.1 Full Members shall meet the criteria for membership as indicated below:

Membership criteria Compliance Strana Zelenych - Comments Be established as a in a registered since October1991 as Strana country, state or politico-geographic region Zelenych of Europe; Annex 1: party registration of Ministry of interior Slovakia. Latest statutory body change and statutes changes are from 20 March 2014. Past and current leadership: - Pavel Petrik, party leader from 26 Sept 2005 to 15 Dec 2008 - Martin Jóna, (co?)party leader from 17 February 2006 to present - Peter Pilinsky, party leader from 15 Dec 2008 to 20 March 2014 - Pavel Petrik, (co?)party leader from 20 March 2014 !Pavel Patrik was never introduced or even mentioned in any of the EGP meetings since 2014. Promote Green politics which are Despite several requests, no documentation ecological, social, democratic and available – there is no regular party website / progressive; social media. Maintain a democratic political base The Secretary General of the party is Martin and a democratic internal Jona, since 2006. We have only met one structure; other person with an unclear status in the party (ZR).

Despite several requests, there is no information available on the internal structure, internal elections, board meetings or party congresses. Participate actively in political life Again, no information was given. and in elections at a credible level; Based on the little information found on internet about the general elections in 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2016 the EGP does not consider their participation as credible. And in between elections there is no trace of political activities (see timeline). SZ had a campaign website for the 5 March 2016 general elections (with a video and only 4 pages, no real content: 4 green candidates on MOST-HID list on positions 44, 69, 79 and 115 (see annex 2)

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! ! Endorse the Green Charter of the EGP 2001 Global Greens Charter is endorsed by (2006) and the Global Greens Charter signing the 2004 EGP founding Statutes (by (2001); Joseph Pokorny).

2006 Green Charter of the EGP is endorsed by the presence of Andrea Svakova and Andrej Zemandl at the Geneva Congress. Accept the Statutes and Rule Book Joseph Pokorny, party leader (2003-2005) of the European ; signed the Statutes at the founding Congress, Rome, 20-22 February 2004. Peter Pilinsky and Pavel Petrik from SZ are registered for the Paris Congress but neither of them stayed to sign the new Statutes and Rule Book of the EGP. Apply gender balance principles in unknown (with the little information we their party structures; have, there appear to be only male members in the party structures and male candidates in elections) Regularly attend European Green They did not attend the councils regularly, Party Council meetings; see annex 3. Participate in the political Since 2008, their attendance has been very discussion and decisions of the low or unexistent. Martin Jona has only European Green Party; attended the PLM of October 2015, and never took the floor or expressed any visions on European issues or shared any political information about his country. Send their yearly accounts and unknown, no information has been received election results to the European and there is no general party website. Green Party if not publicly accessible on their party website; Conduct their financial organisation unknown, no information has been received in a transparent and accountable manner; Pay their designated fee as Full The membership fees for 2012, 2013 and Members in a timely manner; 2014 were paid in cash at the Istanbul Council November 2014 by Daniel Jona (relative of Martin Jona; position in party unknown). The 2015 membership was paid in November 2015 and the 2016 membership is currently unpaid.

Not be under any legal or other restraint on unknown their activities; Report every two years to the Strana Zelenych did not reply to the call for European Green Party on party and membership report of May 2012. policy developments as detailed in Article 4 below.

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! ! 2. Disciplinary Measures and decision to expel a Member – EGP Rule book:

6.5. Disciplinary Measures 6.5.1 Members which fail to meet the specified membership criteria or other obligations or which act in such a way as to bring the European Green Party into disrepute may be subject to disciplinary measures unless or until the situation is resolved. 6.5.2 The Committee is responsible for evaluating any such alleged failures or acts and shall inform the Council delegates of the problem and any such disciplinary measures as they consider appropriate. An overview of any disciplinary measures proposed shall be presented at the beginning of each Council meeting. 6.5.3 The Committee may propose to the Council the following disciplinary measures to be adopted for a specified period: • withdrawal of speaking rights in EGP meetings, including Council meetings; • withdrawal of voting rights in EGP meetings, including Council meetings; • withdrawal of participation in EGP meetings, including Council meetings; • withdrawal of access to information; • suspension or withdrawal of Membership. 6.5.4 The Council shall vote on each such proposal by a two-thirds majority of the Allocated Votes with the exception of the suspension or withdrawal of Membership which requires a three-quarters majority of the Allocated Votes. 6.5.5 In the case of non-payment of Membership Fees, the Committee, acting on the advice of the Treasurer, is authorised to withdraw voting rights of that Member prior to the opening of each voting session at the Council. 6.5.6 Council delegates are informed on any proposed measures as soon as possible by mail or email. Proposals for withdrawal and suspension of Membership are announced to the Council three months ahead of the Council. At the Council the Committee presents its proposal for the proposed measure. The concerned party has the right of explanation and presentation of its point of view

6.6 Decision to expel a Member 6.6.1 The Council, following a proposal by the Committee or at the request of 1/3 of the Full Members, may decide to withdraw the membership of any Member by a three-quarters majority of the Allocated Votes, after hearing the defence of the concerned Member. 6.6.2 The Member must be informed in writing at least three months in advance of the next Council meeting. 6.6.3 The proposal by the Committee to the Council to withdraw the membership of a Member can be appealed to the Conciliation Panel in writing at least two months before the Council. No further requests can be submitted to the Conciliation Panel concerning such membership issue. 6.6.4 The Council may withdraw Full, Candidate or Associate Membership either temporarily or permanently. Any temporary exclusion may be lifted by a subsequent decision of the Council by a three-quarters majority of the Allocated Votes. 6.6.5 Members of the European Green Party may themselves request a restriction or suspension of their membership rights for a temporary period.

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! ! 3. Timeline of FACTS and communications with Strana Zelenych, Slovakia – period 2006 – 2016 (non exhaustive list)

The party is on the regular mailing lists of the EGP and has been receiving the EGP Newsletters, the invitations to the EGP Councils, Party Leaders meetings and AOB.

(the documents can be consulted upon request at the Glasgow Council)

17 February 2006 Mail from Strana Zelenych na Slovensku to inform it changed its’ name to Strana Zelenych and changed the logo (pine tree) to a green heart.

17 June 2006 (Source: Wikipedia) Strana Zelenych had some candidates on the Free Forum list. Free Forum obtained 3,5% and did not win any seats

12 June 2010 (Source: Wikipedia) Strana Zelenych had some candidates on the Party of the Democratic Left. That list obtained 2,41% and no seats

10 March 2012 (Source: Wikipedia) In the 2012 Parliamentary elections the Green Party ran alone. They obtained 10,832 votes (0,42%)

7-9 November 2014 Daniel Jona (link to the party unknown) came to the EGP Council in Istanbul. He paid 1200 Euro in cash for the membership fees of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Strana Zelenych nominated Maggie Dokupilova as candidate Secretary General for the EGP.

16 November 2014 Mail from Maggie Dokupilova with information on the municipal election results that SZ obtained 0,23%.

12 January 2015 Mail from Benedetta De Marte, Assitant to Reinhard Bütikofer, to Martin Jona to inform about dates for upcoming SZ congresses/events.

7 February 2015 Referendum on same-sex marriage. Strana Zelenych campaigned against the same-sex marriage; specifically the branch in Puchov (Facebook posts 10 Jan-4 Febr 2015) was strong in its campaign against gay couples and for the traditional “made by mama and papa” family. The referendum failed as the turnout was only 20%.

25 March 2015 Mar Garcia, EGP Secretary General, sent an EGP Committee letter to Martin Jona, in cc Daniel Jona, requesting clarifications on the situation of Strana Zelenych. (No written reply ever received).

14 April 2015 Mail from Reinhard Bütikofer and Saraswati Matthieu, Committee member 2012-2015, inviting Martin Jona for a phone conference to prepare the meeting at the Zagreb Council. (No reply received)

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! ! 7 May 2015 Mail from Zuzana Rattajova (unknown status in the party) regarding Zagreb Council meeting, to discuss the issues raised in the letter of the Committee and the future cooperation (in Spanish).

15-17 May 2015 Side meeting at the Zagreb Council meeting took place with Martin Jona and Zuzana Rattajova (unknown status in the party). And from EGP Committee: Reinhard Bütikofer and Mar Garcia. A reply to the Committee letter was promised to follow soon.

9 July 2015 Email from Martin Jona with contact details; though no replies to the EGP Committee questions.

28 July 2015 Martin Jona sent a mail to support the candidacy of Reinhard Bütikofer for the Committee election at the Lyon Council.

7 September 2015 Reinhard Bütikofer invites Martin Jona to a phone conference on the refugee crisis. (No reply received)

15 September 2015 Mail from Martin Jona confirming his participation to the Party Leaders meeting of 9 October in Brussels.

9 October 2015 EGP Party Leaders Meeting, Brussels. Martin Jona came to the meeting but did not contribute to the discussions.

2-9 November 2015 Mail exchange between Mar Garcia – Anna Yeliseyeva and Zuzana Rattajova concerning the registration of two male delegates for the Lyon Council: Martin Jona and Viktor Roth. The gender balance and issue and reimbursement rules are pointed out.

4 November 2015 Mail from Benedetta De Marte, assistant to Reinhard Bütikofer, to Martin Jona to remind him about sending the information requested in the letter sent 25 March.

13-15 November 2016 Martin Jona and Zuzana Rattajova (as translator, unknown status in the party) came to the Lyon council. They are only present in the voting session on Sunday morning.

20 January 2016 Mail from Benedetta De Marte to Martin Jona to announce the Fact Finding Mission and to set a date.

2-9 February 2016 Mail exchange with Zuzana for the practical preparation of the FFM.

9-10 February 2016 Fact Finding Mission to Bratislava, Slovakia EGP Committee participants: Reinhard Bütikofer, Péter Ungár and Mar Garcia. See programme in the report on the FFM (Annex 4).

5 March 2016 Slovakia, parliamentary elections. Results: (upon request, communicated by regional HBoell office: For MOST/HID: 6,5%, 290.906 preferential votes and 11 MPs, no seats for SZ. Detail for Strana Zelenych, total of 2211 votes:

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! ! • Jakub Kuruc, position 44 on the list, obtained 807 votes • Ratislav Zitny, position 69 on the list, obtained 724 votes • Jano Buocik, position 79 on list, obtained 487 votes • Martin Jona, position 115 on the list, obtained 193 votes We requested to get a copy of the agreement between SZ and MOST/HID; only some explanation was given orally.

8 March 2016 Reinhard Bütikofer is notified by Juraj Mesik of a reasonable doubt that the Green Party / green brand is being economically misused.

12 March 2016 reply mail from Zuzanna Rattajova (unclear status in the party) with comments on the result of the elections.

12 May 2016 EGP Committee mails to Martin Jona to inform of its decision to start the procedure for withdrawal of their membership.

17 May 2016 The delegates of the Utrecht Council are informed of the Committee decision to start the procedure for withdrawal of their membership (page 8 of the draft minutes)

30 September EGP mailing to SZ and the Council delegates with the dossier.

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! !

4. Conclusions and Proposal

After the take-over of the party in February 2006, internal divisions resulted in further members leaving the party.

The new leadership did not manifest interest in the European Green family since they hardly participated in any of the events EGP has organised. They suspended the payment of their membership fee for 3 years, paying them all in cash at the Istanbul council November 2014.

There is no evidence to support the notion that they have been acting as a credible active political party on the national level in Slovakia. There is no regular party website or social media. No information has been given despite several reminders by EGP, thus we have no proof that Strana Zelenych is a real green party functioning politically. A couple of branches of the party show some activity on the local level, but in an independent way. At the FFM, Martin Jona was not aware and did not want to assume responsibility of the Puchov branch publications on Facebook (LINK / dossier), regarding the referendum on the definition of ‘Family’ (only man + woman), where Strana Zelenych campaigned against the same-sex marriage.

Despite the several meetings the EGP Committee members had with them since 2015, and the fact finding mission that was held 9-10 February 2016, no clarifications or information has been provided on the internal party structure or activities. The report of the Fact Finding Mission is available in annex 4.

The EGP Committee acknowledges that in many instances the information is incomplete and lacking. Up to today we have not received a reply to the EGP Committee letter of March 2015.

Based on the above, the Committee is of the opinion that Strana Zelenych, Slovakia, is not existing as a political green party and that there is reasonable doubt of misuse of the green brand. Therefore we would like to propose to the EGP Council in Glasgow to vote in favour of withdrawing their membership to the EGP.

Before voting on this proposal, Strana Zelenych will have the opportunity to be heard at the Glasgow Council, 2-4 December 2016. Any reactions we may receive prior to the Glasgow Council will of course be shared.

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