Zuzana Čaputová, Andrej Danko, Peter Pellegrini (source: SITA)
The three highest constitutional officials – President Zuzana Čaputová, Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko and PM Peter Pellegrini – claimed allegiance to the Common Declaration of Constitutional Officials Towards the Priorities of Slovakia’s Membership in the EU and NATO. This document came into being in October 2017.
They signed the declaration on June 27 at Bratislava Castle.
“We do it to build a basis for the cooperation and coordination of the three highest constitutional officials when conducting the responsible and unified foreign policy of the Slovak Republic and to confirm the directing of foreign policy,” the constitutional officials wrote in their statement, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Its aim is to view Slovakia as a stable and responsible partner abroad.
Danko invited Lukashenko to Slovakia
The first declaration of this kind was signed in October 2017 by then-president Andrej Kiska, Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko and former PM Robert Fico.
They agreed to care about the clear and responsible communication of the pro-European and pro-Atlantic orientation of Slovakia, both abroad and at home.
This has not always been the case, particularly for Andrej Danko. In his most recent foreign policy move, he broke diplomatic protocol and invited Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to Slovakia for celebrations of the upcoming anniversary of Slovak National Uprising (SNP), the Denník N daily reported. Danko invited Lukashenko while visiting Belarus in early June.
He did not consult this with President Čaputová, nor PM Pellegrini, who is organising the celebrations.
"We have sent a signal to Belarus that the invitation was not sent from the President's Office. It is not an invitation from me. A president should be invited by a president," Čaputová said in her reaction, as quoted by TASR.
Danko insists
Danko insists on the invitation of the Belarussian president to the celebrations, informed his spokesperson Tomáš Kostleník.
"This invitation does not serve as an official visit at the highest level; it is a special invitation to a concrete event," wrote Kostelník, as quoted by the SITA newswire. "If Mr Lukashenko accepts the invitation, the speaker of parliament will personally accept him as his personal guest," he concluded.
Slovakia marks the 65th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising on August 29.
