Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák welcomes the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Irish referendum, Ministry spokesman Peter Stano told TASR on October 3. Lajčák considers the Irish "yes" to be an important step for the European Union, since the treaty addresses its further functioning as well as the future institutional arrangement.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico hopes that thanks to the Irish voters passing the treaty in the repeat referendum the last obstacle in the EU-wide ratification process will disappear.
“We've come through a very complicated process and it would be very good if the Irish voters said 'yes' ... then it is all up to the Czech Republic. The Czech President Vaclav Klaus will have to decide what stance he will take towards this treaty,” said Fico on Slovak radio’s political discussion programme 'Sobotné dialogy' (Saturday dialogues) earlier on October 3.
The official Irish results - announced Saturday afternoon - were 67.1 per cent "Yes" and 32.9 per cent "No", with an increase in the turnout to 58 percent. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
