Premier: Slovakia's Foreign Policy Must Remain Consistent
Bratislava, May 16 (TASR) – It’s key for Slovakia to preserve consensus in its foreign policy, stated Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) after meeting Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak (a Smer-SD nominee) on Wednesday as part of the premier’s series of visits to individual ministries.
“I sometimes have a feeling as if the long-lasting consensus that has always been present in our foreign policy was leaving the Slovak political scene,” said the prime minister, stressing that the consistency of Slovak views has always helped the country to be part of European integration processes.
According to Pellegrini, this should also be Slovakia’s main task during its presidency of the Visegrad Four (V4) group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), due to start on July 1. “Slovakia’s role will be to bring the V4 back into the game towards the European Union,” he said, adding that one of the ways to achieve this is to invite other EU-member states to wider meetings. “We want colleagues from Benelux, Germany, France and so on, to find their way to the V4 again.”
Pellegrini and Lajcak further discussed Slovakia’s image abroad following the murders of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend and the abduction of a Vietnamese businessman from Germany, with claims that Slovakia could have been involved.
The premier and minister also spoke about European and global issues, such as the war in Syria, the USA’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran and inter-Korean relations.
