The last of the 17 member Eurozone nations, Slovakia, voted down an expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility after its passage was tied by the Freedom and Solidarity Party to a confidence vote which would have toppled the government. The Freedom and Solidarity Party argued that Slovakia, second poorest of the Eurozone nations, should not have to pay off the debts of nations like Greece. A second vote is expected and it is anticipated the expansion of the EFSF will proceed. As discussed earlier, the passage of the expansion will likely require the Slovakian government to cooperate with the opposition, which will desire a fresh round of elections. As the BBC reports, though the EFSF expansion to a lending capacity of 440 billion Euros is much needed, it is also seen as inadequate as the bailout fund would need to approach 2 trillion Euros in order to be deemed effective. The success of Richard Sulik’s Freedom and Solidarity Party in defeating the expansion and, perhaps ultimately, toppling the government of Slovakia’s first female Prime Minister Iveta Radičová will be a test ultimately of the willingness of domestic actors to relinquish even greater powers over to the Euro project.

[BBC]