Fico: Foreign Ministry Currently Meets 47% of its Tasks

Bratislava, May 28 (TASR) - The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs is currently meeting nearly 47 percent of the tasks set out in the Government’s Manifesto and it's proceeding fully in line with the plan, Prime Minister Robert Fico declared after his Wednesday's meeting with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanar (both from Smer-SD), which focused on monitoring the implementation of the Manifesto. The Prime Minister praised the ministry for being led by what he called an excellent combination of three senior officials. He thanked them for fulfilling their duties and stated that the goals of Slovakia's foreign policy are being met. Fico commended the ministry for respectfully marking the 20th anniversary of Slovakia’s accession to the EU, emphasizing that membership is extremely beneficial for the country. He also highlighted the establishment of seven new Slovak diplomatic missions abroad, the increase in the number of economic diplomats, and the creation of an international crisis operations center. „It has already handled 3,700 calls operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, practically across all time zones around the world,” he noted. According to him, the ministry has repeatedly demonstrated that it is serious about putting Slovakia first. In addition, Fico praised Slovakia's efforts to build new strategic partnerships with other countries. He pointed out that so far, there have been 71 ministerial foreign visits to 30 different countries. He said he doesn’t understand why some are trying to create the impression that Slovakia is not engaging with certain partners. He noted that in addition to bilateral meetings, many multilateral engagements are also taking place, and that he himself can communicate with other EU country leaders at any time within the EU Council framework. According to Blanar, one of the ministry's next major challenges is Slovakia’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Slovakia already has the support of 93 countries, and it is working to secure the remaining necessary votes. Another key priority for the ministry is negotiating the EU budget for the next programming period. „We will give it maximum attention, because we want to negotiate resources that will help us eliminate the issues the EU aims to address,” he said. Other upcoming challenges include preparing Slovakia for its EU Council presidency in 2030 and expanding visa-free travel access to more countries. mf