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| Minister Lajčák in Malta, finalizing preparations for the EU Presidency Trio |
| Valletta, 30.11.2015 |
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| Slovakia was represented at a top meeting of the British Commonwealth of Nations for the first time as Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, participated in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Valletta, Malta, upon an invitation from his Maltese departmental counterpart, George Vella. The same invitation was also extended to Bert Koenders, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, because Slovakia, Malta and the Netherlands will become the Presidency Trio of the Council of the European Union in January.
“Joint preparations for the Presidency of the Council of the EU by our three countries have progressed to a very high stage and that has allowed Slovakia to participate in the Malta Commonwealth Summit, which is usually attended only by the Commonwealth countries,” stated Minister Lajčák.
In a comprehensive trilateral negotiation meeting the ministers evaluated the outcome of the Trio’s activities, producing the final version of the program for the 18-month period during which their countries will be sharing the responsibilities for overseeing the European Union in successive six-month cycles.
“We have chosen an innovative approach to compiling the Trio’s program and to identifying the joint priorities. Instead of the usual more than hundred-page documents until now, we have focused on selected key topics that we want to address more in depth rather than width, and in that way increase the chance for accomplishing specific outcomes,” stated Minister Lajčák.
He also expressed satisfaction over the content of what has been agreed by the Trio countries in cooperation with the EU institutions at expert level negotiations until now: “We have tabled a substantial and compact document, we have agreed on priorities and, I have no doubt, we will present a quality program to the European public in December,” stated Minister Lajčák. The final official version of the Trio’s Program will be approved by the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 15 December and it will be presented by the Trio Prime Ministers at a joint meeting in Hague, the Netherlands, on the next day.
At their Valletta meeting the Trio foreign ministers focused on précising the last details in respective chapters of the joint program and also discussed selected foreign policy issues such as the situation regarding Syria and the reform process in Ukraine.
They also talked about logistics of the preparations for assuming the Presidency, including exchange of diplomats during respective terms when heading the Council of the EU and also about the EU external relations that they want to focus on under their national priorities. In the case of Slovakia, according to Minister Lajčák, those activities will include the enlargement process so that the EU at this time when it is facing significant internal and external challenges assures its closest partners, the membership candidates, that they have not been forgotten.
In addition to deliberations within the upcoming EU Presidency Trio, Minister Lajčák also attended the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth of Nations Summit in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, the Head of the Commonwealth. He also attended as a guest a special summit meeting dedicated to climate change. At this meeting, preceding the international COP21 climate conference in Paris next month, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French President Francois Hollande and Prince Charles gave addresses.
“My participation in this meeting underscores the importance that Slovakia attributes to strengthening the collective global effort in fighting climate change. It presents an immediate serious challenge, especially for small developing countries. We can assist these countries in addressing this challenge only with joint forces on a global scale,” stated Minister Lajčák.
The Commonwealth of Nations, formerly known as the British Commonwealth, associates 53 states; more than half of them are small, often island, countries that are directly and immediately jeopardized by the effects of global climate change.
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