NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is to pay his last visit to Slovakia before his term in office ends. He is coming to Bratislava on
Friday, July 17 and will meet with Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák and Defense Minister Jaroslav Baška, the SITA newswire wrote. Scheffer, from the Netherlands, took up the post of NATO Secretary-General in 2004.
The Foreign Ministry informed SITA that minister Lajčák plans to praise the secretary-general’s personal contribution to integration of NATO’s new members, including Slovakia. The officials will discuss the preparation of NATO's Strategic Concept which is to define tasks and the alliance's position in the times of new challenges, as well as Slovakia's participation in the alliance's operations.
Scheffer will also address the Slovak Atlantic Commission. His speech is titled "Alliance in a Changing World." Scheffer's term as NATO Secretary-General expires on July 31. Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is to replace him. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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