FM Blanar Commemorates UN Peacekeepers Day, Honours Veterans

Bratislava, 17 June (TASR) - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) marked the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, also known as Blue Helmets Day, by meeting Pavol Marko, president of the Slovak Union of War Veterans. The international observance falls on 29 May. According to the minister, work commitments prevented him from attending earlier, and he therefore received representatives of the veterans' union on Wednesday. "In total, we have participated in 16 peacekeeping missions across four continents. More than 13,000 servicemen and servicewomen took part, as well as police officers, since members of the Police Corps were also involved," Blanar stated at a press conference. He expressed confidence that peace will once again become a value for which everyone is willing to devote effort and make personal sacrifices. Slovakia also intends to promote this goal at the United Nations as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Marko welcomed the fact that Blanar had received war veterans at the ministry. "Modern Slovak war veterans are people who have lived through all of this and, in many ways, continue to do so today. Perhaps not in the same way as during the conflicts of the 1990s, the UNPROFOR mission, or operations in Afghanistan and Iraq under the NATO flag. Nevertheless, these were areas where life was genuinely exposed to danger every day," he said. mf