Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák (source: TASR)
In an exclusive interview for the January 24 issue of the Pravda daily, Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák unambiguously and clearly answered that he will not run for the post of Slovak president.
The minister, currently the president of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session, said he respects the office of the Slovak president and everyone who privately or publicly expressed their opinion that he would not be a bad candidate for this post.
However, he has never even really considered it, since he wants to keep focusing on foreign policy. Lajčák stressed for Pravda that this is his final decision and he definitely will not change his mind.
People both encourage and dissuade him
Many people are encouraging him to run for the presidency., Lajčák said in the interview On the other hand, this idea makes some other people nervous. Some have started to throw mud at the ministry he leads.
“I want to say clearly and unambiguously that I will not run for the president of the Slovak Republic,” he noted, but admitted to considering this option. “I gave it thought, and the result was only the confirmation of my position: no, not really.”
He added that after his term at the UN General Assembly ends, he plans to return to the ministry.
Lajčák believes this clear statement will end any more speculations and he will be able to fully concentrate on his work. He concluded by saying he does not know who could be the ruling Smer party’s candidate for president.
Maďarič refuses to speculate about the candidate
Prime Minister and governing Smer party chair Robert Fico recently said in an interview for the Plus 7 Dní weekly that his party might support Lajčák in a possible bid for the presidential election in 2019.
On the other hand, Culture Minister Marek Maďarič (also Smer) said that he can understand Lajčák’s arguments for not running. Maďarič refused to speculate whether Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič will become the party’s candidate for president.
“I cannot tell you now about this,” he told journalists on January 24, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the decisive factor will be whether the incumbent president, Andrej Kiska, will run. “Once this is clear, all other speculations will be much more interesting,” the culture minister summed up.
