Korcok: 250 People Want to Be Transported from Afghanistan to Slovakia

Korcok: 250 People Want to Be Transported from Afghanistan to Slovakia

Bratislava, August 24 (TASR) – Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (an SaS nominee) reported on Tuesday that Slovakia has registered up to 250 people who want to be transported from Afghanistan to Slovakia, explaining that these are often relatives of Slovak nationals with Afghan roots or people working for organisations that have cooperated with Slovakia, such as educational institutions and universities.

The minister claimed in this regard that Slovakia will consider each of these applications individually and that every applicant will also be assessed in terms of security.

Korcok at the same time reiterated that Slovakia is aware of one Slovak national who operates outside Kabul and hasn’t requested to be evacuated. “Recently, we registered another Slovak national who’s married to a NATO-member country national. She’ll count on her husband to get out of the country,” said the minister.

Although Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) claimed that Slovakia will be able to dispatch another evacuation aircraft to Afghanistan if need be, he refused to provide any more details.

According to Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO), Slovakia has been discussing this possibility with its partners. The premier stated that in many cases, Slovakia is only viewed as a transit country, as those who want to be transported from Afghanistan often don’t want to stay in Slovakia. “We need to act swiftly. We’re waiting to see if it will be necessary for us to dispatch an aircraft to Kabul or to neighbouring countries in order to be able to evacuate these people,” he remarked.

On August 15, the Islamist militant movement Taliban seized the Afghan capital and took over power in the country. Thousands of people have been trying to leave Afghanistan since then. Western countries are carrying out evacuation flights for their diplomats and for Afghans who worked with them and who fear retaliation from the Taliban.