PM Eduard Heger (source: TASR/AP)
Slovakia is a democratic country that respects human rights and is a responsible partner and ally, said PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) during the 20th year of the Evaluation Conference about Foreign and European Policy, organised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
It is also clearly anchored in the EU and NATO, despite facing attacks from the misinformation scene and from extremists.
“Also former top politicians, who used to claimed allegiance to the EU core, joined the side of misinformation,” he said, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “They want us to return to the time of Mečiarism when we were a black hole for the West,” the PM said, referring to the era of former prime minister Vladimír Mečiar in the 1990s.
Let’s not divide people
President Zuzana Čaputová held a speech at the conference too. She said that it would be an illusion to think that Slovak foreign policy is successful if it has no clear support at home. The president opined that support is being lost and needs to be gained back.
She called on politicians, diplomats and experts to explain and communicate Slovak interests.
“Today, the division of society in foreign policy is also our work, people from the same world of values, who unequivocally share a western geopolitical orientation,” she said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “Let’s carefully perceive the era in which we live, without slackening our values, let’s explain and communicate.”
She called for a stop to dividing society into conspiracy theorists vs “our” people, or between admirers of undemocratic regimes vs people with common sense.
“Let’s admit that something which is absolutely clear to us is not necessarily clear for a big part of our society,” the president said, as quoted by TASR.
Neutrality an irresponsible choice for Slovakia
She encouraged people to be able to see not only the minority who are impacted by hatred but also people who are just afraid, confused by lots of information and those who do not know what to think and may be inclined to believe lies. It still makes sense to speak to them, she added.
The president noted that a policy of neutrality would be an irresponsible choice for Slovakia; Ukraine has also realised it.
“Let’s explain to people that when we speak about supporting Ukraine, it is not because the US or Brussels is doing it,” she noted. “We say that as a direct neighbour of Ukraine.”
