Danko: Major Foreign Policy Moves Must Be Approved by Cabinet at Least
Bratislava, December 31 (TASR) – Major moves in foreign policy resulting in commitments for Slovakia should be approved for the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry by the Cabinet at the very least, while it also needs to be remembered that Parliament is above the Government, Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) has told TASR.
Danko was commenting on the recent uproar concerning the UN Global Compact for Migration. This was supported by Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak (a Smer-SD nominee), who even submitted his resignation after the compact was rejected by Parliament, but later decided to stay on in office.
Noting that he himself is active in foreign policy, Danko said that he advocates a “balanced foreign policy towards West and East”.
“I won’t take part in hysteria; for example, in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict,” he said.
Commenting on Slovakia’s new security strategy, which was unanimously approved by the Government but was then blocked by SNS on its way to the House, Danko said that it shouldn’t appear in Parliament any time soon.
“There’s been a political agreement that it won’t go to Parliament in this form in the current electoral term … Nevertheless, I’m not ruling out a compromise,” said Danko.
When asked about the purchase of 14 new F-16 jets from Lockheed Martin worth a total of €2 billion, as approved recently by the Government, Danko described the amount as “crazy”, adding that he’d like to see something constructed in Slovakia instead.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t walk Austria’s path of state neutrality. I maintain that Slovakia didn’t need to be in hurry to join trans-Atlantic structures and instead could have pondered its own golden middle way. One unfortunate thing was the abolition of conscription. The time might be coming – and we’ll have to discuss this – that it would perhaps be helpful for 18-year-old boys to spend three months soldiering,” said Danko.
The parliamentary chairman in the interview went on to describe himself as an “advocate” of setting up a European military.
“There’s a trend, which we probably won’t be able to avoid, to see the setting up of a European military, which will have a special relationship with NATO,” said Danko, adding that he isn’t challenging Slovakia’s commitments to its NATO allies, however.
