Slovakia's Prime Minister, Robert Fico, met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Bratislava on Monday, January 28. He voiced his support for the efforts of Ban Ki-moon to increase the effectiveness and significance of the United Nations worldwide. He stressed that Slovakia would devote its attention to reforming the security sector, which Slovakia initiated as one of the non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
Moreover, Slovakia strives to become a U.N. regional centre and continues cooperating in various areas, such as sending its experts to U.N. structures and missions. Ki-moon praised the two-year work of Slovakia in the U.N. Security Council. He announced that the U.N. would pay special attention to the situation in the Balkans, mainly concerning the expected Kosovar declaration of independence, as well as in Africa, in forming a peacekeeping mission of the United Nations and the African Union in Darfur.
Ban Ki-moon came to Slovakia from Slovenia, which currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency. He will leave Bratislava for the summit of the African Union countries in Ethiopia. The UN Secretary General is visiting Slovakia for the first time since he began this position. He came to Slovakia before as South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in April 2006. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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