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Butora: Era Of Special Relations With Russia Ends With Radicova's Government
Saturday 16 Octtber 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, October 16 (TASR) - With Iveta Radicova's Government, the era of Slovakia's strategic partnership with Russia ends, said sociologist and honorary president of the Public Affairs Institute (IVO) Martin Butora on Saturday.
"This means (the end) of special, extraordinary relations with Russia, on which mainly the former prime minister Robert Fico was building. Along the lines of the policy of four azimuths, he was refusing the former allegedly one-sided orientation of Slovakia to the West and to the United States of America," said Butora.
He thinks that a stronger Euro-Atlantic orientation of Slovakia can be expected in the future, which is being indicated by the character of the governing (centre-right) parties, as well as by the political profile of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova and Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. He added that with the beginning of Radicova's Government (in July 2010), the era of Slovak foreign policy, which was described by former foreign affairs minister Miroslav Lajcak, ended. Lajcak said that "for Slovak diplomacy the fact of having Slovak National Party (SNS)in government was comparable to a situation of having a ball on a chain attached to one's foot".
Butora said SNS complicated the situation for Slovak diplomacy because "diplomats had to focus on with difficulty justifiable steps of this party".
He pointed out that while some eras have ended with the new Government, some other relations will be marked by a continuity. "Such as Slovak commitments to NATO - as it can be seen on our conduct in Afghanistan, our support for the countries in Western Balkan, support of further EU enlargement, as well as the orientation on the Visegrad Four (V4) countries," he explained.
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