Blanar: Strategic Partnership with China Doesn't Mean Security Risks

Bratislava, November 6 (TASR) - The strategic partnership with China doesn't create security risks for Slovakia, nor does it threaten the country's sovereignty, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) rejected raising similar doubts following the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, at which he and Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) looked back at the government's recent visit to China. The foreign minister described the statements warning that the strategic partnership will also mean that the activities of Chinese security services will intensify in Slovakia as opposition rhetoric. "A strategic partnership doesn't automatically mean that foreign spies will be walking around Slovakia because that is nonsense. This actually affects other countries with which we signed such strategic agreements," he pointed out, referring to the fact that, for example, within the Indo-Pacific countries, Slovakia has also established strategic partnerships with Japan and South Korea. "The strategic partnership we signed with China was based on mutual understanding and respect. This is very important in making [foreign] policy oriented towards all the four cardinal points," stressed the Slovak foreign minister. am/mcs