A PROTEST note from the European Union will be sent to Ethiopia in response to the detention of Milan Dubček, Slovakia’s ambassador to that country, for two days in early November, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, assured Foreign Affairs Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda during a meeting on November 14, the TASR newswire reported.
Dubček was arrested while he was out for a walk and the Ethiopian authorities did not inform Slovakia of the detention or offer any explanation for their action. The ambassador stated that he did not believe he had violated any Ethiopian law.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry described the incident as a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and demanded his immediate release, which was granted. Ambassador Dubček has returned to Slovakia for consultations.
Though Ethiopia replied to Slovakia’s diplomatic note sent immediately after Dubček’s release, the Foreign Ministry found its explanation inadequate, TASR wrote.
“[Slovak] ambassador Igor Slobodník in Berlin received a reply from Ethiopia,” stated Dzurinda, as quoted by TASR. “We have scrutinised it but its content did not satisfy us, so we have again sent our reaction.”
