Foreign Policies

Sakova: Boarding a Vessel Mustn't Be Entrance Ticket to Europe for Migrants

Innsbruck, July 12 (TASR) – Boarding a vessel mustn’t be an entrance ticket to Europe for illegal migrants, said Interior Minister Denisa Sakova (Smer-SD) at an informal meeting of EU interior ministers held in Innsbruck (Austria) on Thursday.

Sakova praised that EU leaders are shifting their attention from addressing consequences to causes of illegal migrants’ arrival to Europe. She said that the causes of illegal migration should be addressed already in the countries that illegal migrants come from.

“If boarding a vessel will be an entrance ticket to Europe, there won’t be fewer dead people or fewer illegal entries,” stressed Sakova. She asked interior ministers of the remaining 26 EU countries which third country is willing to cooperate in this concept with the EU.

The Slovak minister said she sees the Frontex agency’s role chiefly in protection of the EU’s external border. “Frontex should be a tool to prevent the Schengen from destabilising if there is a situation that a member state fails to cope up with,” said Sakova.

Sakova also called for increase in the Frontex agency’s capacities, adding the agency might meet new roles as well, for example in third countries or in returning illegal migrants.

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.

Read next