Taraba Held Talks on Slovakia's Joining of Internationale de la Francophonie

Bratislava, May 9 (TASR) - Environment Minister and Vice-premier Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee) has held talks on Slovakia's potential joining of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), as such membership could help Slovakia improve its ties with African and Asian countries, TASR learnt from the Environment Ministry's press department on Thursday. Currently, Slovakia holds the status of an OIF observer country. "Slovakia will strive to acquire full membership of this organisation. Its interests stem from mutual Slovak-French ties, which have been friendly since the days when Milan Rastislav Stefanik was active in France," explained the ministry. Potential OIF membership would still need to be greenlighted by the Slovak government. "Personally, as a government member with a positive relationship to the francophone sphere, I'm using the opportunity to explore options for Slovakia to become a full member of the important OIF club. It would enrich Slovakia and open up new horizons and opportunities," said Taraba. mf/df