President: NATO's Eastern Border to Be Protected Regardless of Country Involved

New York/Bratislava, 23 September (TASR) - Slovakia is a full-fledged member of NATO and has so far supported the countries affected by incursions into their airspace, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) stressed at a briefing for the media during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, TASR informed on Tuesday. Their statement came in response to reports that Slovakia should be excluded from talks on building the so-called "drone wall" along the EU's eastern border. Pellegrini said that he will meet with defence minister and the chief of the general staff to discuss how Slovakia, together with its allies, will be able to protect its airspace, so that the country's eastern border would not become some kind of an unsecured gap leading into Western Europe. "NATO's eastern border must be fully protected regardless of the countries involved, otherwise it makes no sense," said Pellegrini. Blanar described the talks on the project as "preliminary". According to him, the fact that Slovakia wasn't invited at this stage was not the consequence of its foreign policy. "Slovakia is an absolutely respected and constructive country, taking a responsible approach to all of these issues. We condemned the incursion into our neighbours' airspace and we immediately supported the consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which is clear proof that we are part of the entire process," said Blanar. Commenting on US President Donald Trump's speech criticising the UN and the purchases of Russian oil in Europe, Blanar said that the reform of the UN is necessary because, after 80 years, it no longer reflects the reality of the world. He noted that the Global South countries should be more involved in the issue of security, with new ways to be sought for preserving peace. Blanar also pointed out that energy policy is a sovereign matter of each country. He stressed that Slovakia and its government are aiming to ensure the prosperity and standard of living for Slovaks. "And no one else will do that for us – only our government," said Blanar, adding that it is not only Slovakia and Hungary that are still buying oil from Russia. On Tuesday, Pellegrini is also due to attend a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Ukraine. He said he would once again advocate a three-step approach to resolving the conflict: negotiating a ceasefire, beginning the talks on ending the conflict, and subsequently preparing a package of security guarantees for Ukraine. jrg