Foreign Policies

Lajcak Second in UN Straw Poll, Foreign Ministry Declines to Comment

Bratislava, September 9 (TASR) – Straw polls for selecting the successor of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are part of an internal process in Security Council that isn’t commented on publicly by its members, Slovakia’s Foreign and European Ministry stated on Friday in reaction to the second place of Slovak minister Miroslav Lajcak.

Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres earlier in the day topped the fourth successive straw poll in the Security Council, ahead of Slovak Foreign Minister Lajcak, said diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The process continues and there will be further rounds, so it would be premature to comment on the vote and preliminary results of these indicative rounds,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Stano.

Guterres, a former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, got 12 ‘encourage’ votes, two ‘discourage’ and one ‘no opinion’. Lajcak received ten positive votes, four negative and one neutral.

Third place went to former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic on nine positive votes, four negative and one abstention.

SPPK: If Farmers Aren't Taken Seriously, They Will Be Seen in Streets More Often

If farmers' demands are not taken seriously, they will be seen in the streets more often, Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber chairman Emil Macho told a news conference held in front of the Parliament's building on Thursday.

PM: Slovakia to Organise Repeated Mass Testing, Two Dozen Districts Exempt

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) – Slovakia will organise a repeated mass testing for the coronavirus, but districts with positivity rates below 0.7 percent in the testing this past weekend will be exempt from the second round, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) announced after a meeting of the Central Crisis Management

President Supports Civic Collection to Purchase Ammunition for Ukraine

Bratislava, April 19 (TASR) - I support the 'Ammunition for Ukraine' civic collection, President Zuzana Caputova posted on a social network on Friday, adding that she's also proud that many in Slovakia care about the fate of neighbouring Ukraine. "I support this initiative because it's the right thing to do.

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