Re: Tunisia abuses rights of Slovak national, News Shorts, Sept 5 - 11, 2005, Vol 11, No 33
It is not practical or economically viable for a small country to have an embassy in every country, therefore it has to depend on the diplomatic mission of another nation. My country, Cyprus, is eight times saller than Slovakia and as a result has an agreement with the UK to offer consular services to its citizens where there is not a Cypriot Embassy. I know that first hand because during the first Gulf war in 1991, I was working in Bahrain and the British Embassy took care of me as if I was British citizen, by providing me with a gas mask, evacuation plan, daily security briefings, etcetera. I was told by the British Embassy that there is an agreement between the two countries dating from 1960. If I get in trouble on the Ivory Coast, I can always contact the British Embassy for legal assistance, a replacement passport, whatever. Perhaps Slovaks can do the same in cooperation with another country in order to assist and protect its citizens in far away places? Can the EU missions take on such a task?
Panos,
Cyprus
