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Lajcak: Friendships Shouldn't Be Criteria for Becoming Ambassador
Tuesday 05 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 5 (TASR) - It's unacceptable for a person to become a Slovak ambassador simply because they are friends with somebody, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak told TASR on Tuesday.
Slovakia has overcome a period in which ambassador posts were viewed as positions available for unsuccessful politicians or friends, he added. "So-called political nominations have happened, there have been cases in which people who meant nothing not only in diplomacy but also in the area they had come from were appointed. This is definitely not going to occur while I'm the foreign affairs minister," said Lajcak.
On the other hand, some successful and high-quality ambassadors have done a great job, even though they came from an external environment and weren't professional diplomats. "Although I'm a career diplomat myself and I've always cared about this service preserving a professional character, I don't think that a complete closure of the foreign affairs ministry to the outside world is a good solution," added the minister.
When appointing ambassadors in 2010, Lajcak vowed to follow the needs of the diplomatic services, with elections having no impact on the process. "We're building up a professional service and we send out people who are loyal state officials and qualified diplomats," he said.
No sensations should be sought after ambassadors are replaced, he stated, as this is common practice and the usual period of service in one post is four years.
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