PS Criticises Blanar for Not Attending European Council on Foreign Affairs

Bratislava, March 19 (TASR) - Member of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) presidium Ivan Korcok has criticised Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) for failing to attend a meeting of the European Council on Foreign Affairs on Monday (March 17), the PS media department told TASR on Wednesday, adding that the meeting is held once a month and should be seen as an obligatory trip. "The diplomatic chiefs of the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria and even Hungary were all sitting at the table; only Juraj Blanar, incomprehensibly, was absent. The excuse of an important trip to India doesn't hold water, either, as his Hungarian counterpart managed to fit in both," said Korcok. Korcok thinks that no one from Slovakia's political representation felt the need to negotiate peace for Ukraine, a sanctions package or financial aid. "But their silence on such serious issues means one thing - we're already behaving as if we aren't there," pointed out Korcok, adding that in such critical situations there's a need to actively promote Slovakia's interests, such as the initiative on NATO's eastern flank. Vice-chair of the parliamentary European affairs committee Beata Jurik (PS) pointed out that Blanar was also absent on Tuesday (March 18) at the General Affairs Council, where the EU summit on Thursday (March 20) is being prepared. "Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) will be at the summit, but Slovakia isn't involved in preparing its conclusions. It is a showcase of topics that the premier is supposed to care about - defence, competitiveness, migration, energy and the multi-annual financial framework," she added. am/df