The Slovak government’s refusal to attend the forthcoming UN migration summit in Marrakech is absurd, but so is Miroslav Lajčák.
While politics are always part theatrics, debate in parliament’s foreign affairs committee this week — which ended with the recommendation that Slovakia skips the December 10-11 meeting — was totally devoid of content.
On one side, most of Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS) were so opposed to migration of all types that they are unwilling to even speak the word “migrant” in the presence of other countries. On the other side, Lajčák — a man who lent his face to billboards that read “We protect Slovakia” during the 2016 parliamentary campaign — tried to convince his counterparts they needed to be sensible about migration.
While Lajčák is right, Slovakia should attend the Marrakesh conference in December, he is right for the wrong reasons and far too late.
