The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional centre established in Bratislava in 1997 is to close and move to Istanbul in Turkey, the Sme daily reported on May 9.
Sme reported that Slovakia negotiated to keep the office of the agency, which organizes anti-poverty projects worldwide, but refused a UN demand to increase the share of the running costs that it currently pays. The replacement UNDP office will probably open in Istanbul in January 2014, Sme wrote.
UNDP spokesman Satinder Bindra told Sme that it was a “geographical necessity” to move closer to countries with the biggest need to develop, while Slovak Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Gandel stressed the UNDP’s focus on the Caucasus and Central Asia and implied there was a need for geographical shift.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
