Foreign Minister ?

Foreign Minister ?

Miroslav Lajčák has decided to remain as Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister. As he said on Friday, the Prime Minister persuaded him to change his mind.

Miroslav Lajčák (a Smer-SD nominee) officially handed his resignation to President Andrej Kiska, following parliament's decision to reject the UN Global Compact on Migration, a non-binding agreement which aims for "Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration". On Wednesday this week, President Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák came no decision concerning the resignation, even though the President had promised to do so a day before.

"I am happy with Miroslav Lajčák's decision and am looking forward to our further co-operation," said Prime Minister this Friday. On Thursday and Friday, Slovakia symbolically took on the torch of the presiding country of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from Italy at the annual OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, Italy, attended also by Miroslav Lajčák.

Nevertheless, SMER party MEP Monika Benova stated on Thursday that Lajcak was not the only person in Slovakia who would be able to manage Slovakia's presidency of the OSCE next year. "It's undignified for a state to implore a government minister to reconsider his resignation," wrote Benova on Facebook.

The coalition member Slovak National Party vice-chair Jaroslav Paska stated on Thursday that developments surrounding the resignation of Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak were turning into tasteless political theatrics. "If minister Lajcak didn't mean his resignation seriously, then why did he tender it?" asked Paska.

The fact that Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak has decided to remain in office is a better decision for Slovakia than if he had left, stated the leader of the coalition Most-Hid party Bela Bugar on Friday. "If he had left, it would have been a great loss for Slovakia. He's a guarantor of our foreign policy orientation," noted Bugar. At the same time, Bugar expects Lajcak to explain in a trustworthy manner why he decided to stay despite announcing his resignation.

The SME daily commentator Peter Tkačenko commented on the case of the Foreign Minister's resignation, hinting at possible steps taken in order to prevent the former Prime Minister and the leader of the largest coalition SMER party Robert Fico to take this post. Slovak media brought the information about Robert Fico's interest in the position soon after Miroslav Lajčák announced his decision to resign. According to Peter Tkačenko from the SME daily, this would weaken the position of the incumbent Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini so he is trying to avoid this situation.

"Miroslav Lajcak is definitely a better minister than Robert Fico", said Veronika Remišová from the OĽaNO opposition party on Friday, adding that he should think about the consequences of submitting a resignation in advance. The leader of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity party Richard Sulík pointed out that following the Slovak Constitution, a minister cannot take back their resignation.


Martina Šimkovičová, Photo: TASR

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