Drucker: Coalition Partners Prioritised Political Games over Pandemic Agreement

Bratislava, May 19 (TASR) - Our coalition partners have prioritised political gain over facts when it comes to the pandemic agreement, said Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) on Monday, adding that the government's proposal to vote against the agreement will bring no benefit to Slovakia, TASR learnt from the ministry's communications department on the same day. "I fully agree with the arguments of the health minister [Kamil Sasko]. It's sad that our coalition partners have prioritised political gain over facts on such a serious matter. I believe we can at least agree on one thing – that we need to sit down together at the same table and start addressing the real problems that people in Slovakia are facing," said Drucker. According to the education minister, voting against the pandemic agreement once again creates an image of Slovakia as a country that appears untrustworthy and unusual. "Slovakia is a sovereign state that enters into international agreements freely and in a sovereign manner. If necessary, it can raise its objections during the ratification process. However, there's no reason for us to block other countries from progressing with this important global cooperation," he said. The Education Ministry added that the pandemic agreement doesn't take away anyone's freedom or sovereignty. According to it, it's not a global regulation, but a global agreement that nearly all countries have signed in order to face the potential threat of another pandemic in the best and most coordinated way. Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced over the weekend that, according to the government's decision, the Slovak delegation at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, won't support the pandemic treaty and will also request that it be put to a vote rather than adopted by global consensus. Meanwhile, Health Minister Kamil Sasko doesn't consider the decision to be correct, as neither he nor the Voice-SD party supports Slovakia's rejection of the treaty. According to him, the agreement doesn't restrict national sovereignty or take away anyone's freedom to decide how to respond in the event of a pandemic. The 78th session of the World Health Assembly is taking place in Geneva from 19 to 27 May. The wording of a pandemic agreement aimed at better preparing for and combating pandemics has been under negotiation for several years. lin/df