President Asks Foreign Ministry for Information on Board of Peace

Bratislava, 26 January (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini has requested from the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry an analysis of documents related to Slovakia's invitation to join the Board of Peace, TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department on Monday. "If the Slovak Republic were to consider joining this initiative, we would need to know exactly what the legal framework for possible participation in the Board of Peace would be, what the financial costs would be, and what the constitutional procedure for approving the accession documents would be," said the head of state, adding that only after thoroughly reviewing all the information would it be possible to have a meaningful discussion. The President's Office has therefore officially asked the Foreign Ministry to disclose all internal and external analyses that it has at its disposal in connection with negotiating an agreement, as well as the possible risks if Slovakia joins the Board of Peace. At the same time, it requested information on whether the ministry considers the document received to be an international treaty under the Slovak Constitution or another type of international treaty, and whether it would be necessary to adopt a law in the event of ratifying such a treaty. Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) said on Saturday (24 January) that Slovakia has received an offer to join the Board of Peace of US President Donald Trump. According to him, his ministry is currently assessing the offer, as it must evaluate links to domestic legislation as well as international commitments. Trump presented the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday (22 January). He invited approximately 60 countries to join, but the exact composition isn't yet known. Among others, Russia, China, the European Commission, Poland and Australia have been invited. France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia, for example, have already declined to participate. am/df