Blanar: Slovaka Respected Abroad, Isolation Claims Are Lies

Bratislava, 30 December (TASR) - Slovakia is respected in the world, and opposition claims about isolation are lies and propaganda, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) has stated in a year-end interview with TASR. This year the government continued its foreign policy oriented to all four corners of the world in line with the government manifesto, and this approach is no longer questioned, as it has led to tangible accomplishments, said Blanar. "We very firmly and responsibly promote our national state interests within the European Union, which is our living space, and also within NATO. At the same time, we're orienting our foreign policy towards economic diplomacy and seeking to be visible in international organisations," the minister stated. Blanar claimed that Slovakia has good and balanced relations with neighbouring countries and other partners and is respected internationally. He highlighted the importance of membership of the EU, NATO, the UN, the OSCE and the OECD. In his view, it is natural that countries within organisations hold differing views on some issues. "The Western partners can't dictate a single opinion to everyone. On the contrary, there's a need to discuss all matters and respect differing views," he said. Among the key events of this year, he cited the meeting of members of the Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly in Slovakia, a ministerial meeting of the Central European Five (C5), visits by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany and UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN Special Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill. He also noted that many other visits took place at ministerial and presidential level. Blanar described economic diplomacy as a strong foundation of Slovak foreign policy. "We organised 16 trade missions precisely targeted at promising countries, with excellent feedback directly from entrepreneurs ... We are also increasing the number of full-fledged economic diplomats; of a total plan of 43, we've already filled 37 posts focused on specific markets. We're expanding our network of embassies to areas in which we have defined economic diplomacy as a priority, namely the Indo-Pacific region and the Global South," said the minister. The minister stressed that he was personally most saddened this year by developments in Ukraine. "This is also the most sensitive issue for me personally, which is why we're striving to maintain close contact with the Ukrainian side, including through intergovernmental meetings, where we've agreed and are implementing many practical projects to help the people of our eastern neighbour," he said. According to him, Slovakia also maintains fair relations with Russia. "The Russian Federation is here to stay; it is an important trading partner for us in terms of energy resources, and we cannot sever ties, even though we have reservations about many actions taken by the Russian Federation, as changing borders by force is unacceptable for us," stated the minister. He reiterated that Slovakia supports a diplomatic solution in this context and appealed for the war to end as soon as possible. mf/df