The Slovak Foreign Ministry does not consider the United Kingdom's decision not to include Slovakia on its list of safe countries, which means that Slovaks need to undergo quarantine after they arrive in Great Britain, to be justified in view of the epidemiological situation in Slovakia, TASR learnt on Saturday. For this reason, the Slovak Foreign Ministry carried out repeated interventions, both in London and in Bratislava for the UK's position to be reconsidered. The British diplomacy has assured it will do its utmost in this matter, adding that, however, this is a decision by the British health authorities. At the same time, the Slovak Foreign Ministry brings attention to the validity of the recommendation not to travel to Great Britain, which Slovak epidemiologists have not included among safe countries.
Foreign Affairs Committee chair Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) took potshots at the chief of Slovak diplomacy Ivan Korcok (SaS nominee) over the United Kingdom listing Slovakia among COVID-19 'at risk' countries. Blanar pointed out that while nationals of the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria are free to travel to Great Britain without mandatory self-isolation, every Slovak will be forced to spend "two weeks of their precious time in British quarantine", despite the fact that Slovakia is among the least risky countries.
Moreover, chairman of the opposition Smer-SD party Robert Fico on Saturday called on Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok (a Freedom and Solidarity/SaS nominee) to consider his continued tenure. The ministry rejects politically motivated criticism. "Every country, like Slovakia, takes its sovereign decisions, and we've also recently been the subject of criticism from other states for our restrictive measures. We aren't responsible either for the fact that the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee [Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD)] noticed the matter only after a week," the ministry told TASR.
In response to Fico's call, Korcok wrote on Sunday on a social network that it is sad that Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is politicking with everything that suits him. The minister says he would expect Fico to encourage people to be careful when travelling to countries that Slovak epidemiologists do not consider to be safe, including Great Britain. "But Mr. Fico is doing the opposite. Irresponsible," said Korcok, claiming that Fico can be understood when he wants to talk about Korcok's resignation because it is much easier than talking about other much more urgent topics these days.
