UN Secretary General Pays Official Visit to the Slovak Republic

Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General, has paid his first official visit to Slovakia.

At the end of the talks, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič underlined that Slovakia, as a founding member of the United Nations, considers the UN’s role in multilateral diplomacy to be of key importance and appreciates Ban Ki-Moon’s effort to reform the organisation.

They also discussed security topics of current concern, specifically the issues of the Middle East and Kosovo. The Slovak President described as important Ban Ki-Moon’s judgment concerning the position and work of Slovak diplomats in the UN, “who were highly praised by the Secretary General. Therefore in the future activities of the UN, with Slovakia being a candidate for the Human Rights Council between 2008-11, we want to capitalise on the trust Slovakia has won while on the UN Security Council. We are also running for membership in the UN Economic and Social Council between 2010-12. On top of that, we discussed the possibilities for our diplomats to join further committees and commissions, including the Secretariat headed by the UN Secretary General,” the Slovak President said.

According to Gašparovič, the Slovak side intends to pay extraordinary attention to Security Sector Reform. Both partners also discussed the UN peacekeeping missions, with the UN Secretary General praising the work of Slovak troops within UNICYP in Cyprus and KFOR in Kosovo. The UN Secretary General paid respect to the Slovak Republic as a country which, within a short process of developing its independence, has evolved from the position of an aid beneficiary into a donor. The talks of the Slovak President and the UN Secretary General also revolved around Slovakia’s support for key regional initiatives in the Middle East and the Balkans, namely Cyprus and Kosovo.

On the Kosovo issue, both partners shared their concerns regarding the current situation and agreed to embark on mutual consultations and make closer contacts to address this sensitive issue.
President Ivan Gašparovič considers the issue of Kosovo’s future to be very important from Europe’s viewpoint. He is convinced that it is not easy to find a solution that will be objective and fair for Kosovo.

 In his opinion, the Slovak Republic will be against any unilateral decision that would intensify the risk of conflict in the Balkans, but will not be a country which will go against the view of the European Union. The Slovak President described Europe’s position stated in UN Security Council Resolution No.1244 as “important”.

The UN Secretary General thanked Slovakia for its support in handling the issues of Security Sector Reform and expressed a belief that the country will continue to be of great contribution for the UN, while building on its experience gained in the position of non-permanent UN Security Council member.