Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák (source: TASR)
The idea of establishing a permanent advisory and coordinating body was proposed by Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák and the head of the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad, Jan Varšo. The body, approved by the cabinet at its September 21 session, was deemed necessary in order to fullfil tasks related to Slovaks living abroad, the TASR newswire wrote.
The council will be in charge of the strategic coordination of state policy in this sphere. The government hopes to formulate synergistic measures relating to expat issues with respective central state administration authorities and other state administration bodies in this way. The council will also help to implement effectively Slovakia’s State Policy Concept in Relation to Slovaks Living Abroad until 2020.
It will be headed by the foreign affairs minister, while the state secretary will be its vice-chair and the list of its members will also include state secretaries of the foreign Affairs ministry and of the ministries of education, culture, interior and finance. The council will also have a secretary and secretariat. It will meet twice a year or when necessary.
