Slovakia Has Ambassador in Czech Republic after Gap of More Than Year

Bratislava/Prague, October 18 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia has filled its top diplomatic post in the Czech Republic after a hiatus of more than a year, with Ingrid Brockova handing her credentials to Czech President Petr Pavel at Prague Castle on Wednesday. "Dear president, it is a great honour for me to hand over to you the credentials with which Slovak President Zuzana Caputova entrusted me to serve as Slovakia's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary in the Czech Republic," Brockova told the Czech president during a reception at Prague Castle, at which she appeared dressed in a traditional folk costume. Brockova was nominated for the post by former chief of Slovak diplomacy Rastislav Kacer, who served as the Slovak ambassador in Prague before her. Brockova started working for the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1993. Between 2001-2008 she served as the World Bank's representative in Slovakia before returning to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. She occupied the post of ministry state secretary as of April 2020. She was engaged in economic diplomacy, development cooperation, humanitarian aid and relations with international organisations. The top diplomatic post at the Slovak Embassy in Prague has been vacant since last September, when Kacer left to become the foreign affairs minister as a nominee of the SaS party, replacing Ivan Korcok. The embassy was led on a temporary basis by Sona Budayova, who left Prague upon Brockova's appointment to serve in Istanbul. ko/df