Gov't: Military Aid for Ukraine by Slovak and Czech Firms to Continue (2)

Bratislava/Prague, November 6 (TASR-correspondent) - The military aid to Ukraine from Slovakia, run on a commercial basis by firms operating in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, has no bearing on the stance of the Slovak Government in this matter and will continue, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar declared in Prague on Monday. TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent in the Czech Republic on the same day. According to Blanar, the stance of the new Slovak government is being misinterpreted by the media. "We want to continue the humanitarian aid and want to help Ukraine also in other ways, such as with mine removal because that has roots in peacekeeping," he stated. Blanar clarified that the government won't provide Kiev with any weapons from the Slovak Armed Forces stocks. "That's because there is nothing left to give and we need to care also for our own security. In addition, we think that it's also necessary to start peace initiatives at the level of the EU," said the minister. He added that prolonging the military conflict won't lead to any results and it would be better to freeze it for a longer period rather than to continue the killing. "That being said, however, everything that's being run on a commercial basis by firms operating in Slovakia and also the Czech Republic has no impact on our stance and will continue normally as before," emphasised the chief of Slovak diplomacy. On his first official foreign visit to Prague, Blanar also discussed migration with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky. According to Blanar, the previous government didn't do enough in this regard, prompting the Czech Republic to introduce border checks. He concurred with Lipavsky that countries should embrace a coordinated approach to tackle the problem. The Slovak minister also conveyed Slovakia's interest in "restoring" the Visegrad Four group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia). "V4 is a unique format for us and we'd like to restore it because it's been frozen. We understand that there are issues that divide some members, but there are also issues that unite us and we must talk about them," explained Blanar. Both ministers made comments on differing stances in foreign affairs, the existence of which is not surprising in Lipavsky's view. "Both sides recognise each other's independent and sovereign foreign policy and it's the task of diplomats to seek overlaps and work on specific things. And that's what we outlined during the talks, the fields in which we could seek them together," said Lipavsky. mf/mcs