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Lajcak Outlines Slovak Expectations from EU's New Foreign Policy Chief
Thursday 26 November 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Warsaw/Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak, taking part in a discussion forum on the European Union's foreign policy issues in Warsaw on Thursday, outlined Slovakia's views regarding the EU's orientations in this area, ministry spokesman Peter Stano told TASR later in the day.
Lajcak also addressed the country's expectations from the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Baroness Catherine Ashton.
Prior to the discussion, which was held on the sidelines of a conference on the EU's foreign policy co-organised in Poland's capital by the Centre for European Strategy and the Bertelsmann Foundation, Lajcak talked via phone with the EU's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In their first ever direct interaction, Lajcak and Ashton discussed how Slovakia could be helpful to Ashton in her new position.
Speaking at the conference, Lajcak stressed that "claims that the European Union is a giant in economic terms but a dwarf from the political point of view aren't true. The question is, though, whether the Union, with its structures and in financial and mental terms, is ready to play the role of a global player."
As regards the bloc's size, number of inhabitants and economic power, the EU ranges among the world's powers. "But in order for the EU to become a global player, it has to discard its idealistic vision that lack of stability in remote regions has no real impact on security of its own."
In the discussion, which also featured Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister Radek Sikorski, Lajcak elaborated on Slovakia's expectations from Ashton. "We expect that she will take an active part in the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty in the area of external relations, and that with backing from the new European Foreign Service she will boost the Union's global profile and will contribute to the formation of joint EU positions and strategies," said Lajcak.
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