BRATISLAVA, October 21, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovakia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, who hosted a news conference on his first hundred days in office, said he still likes going to work. “I like this work, perhaps you can see it on me, it is a responsible position,” he said with a big smile. However, the minister cannot imagine a topic in a debate on which one would be entitled to say that things cannot be done better. He underscored that undoubtedly there exist a lot of topics where improvement is possible.
Dzurinda plans to continue his efforts to strengthen the country’s reputation and increase its attractiveness for investors. He explained that already now Slovakia’s position is stronger than a hundred days ago. “Slovakia is more solid nowadays, enjoys a remarkably higher authority and significantly contributes to global topics,” he said.
Slovakia not only took over the V4 rotating presidency with a great verve and managed to address problems in the European sphere, but also said a big “no” to the Greek bailout. Dzurinda underscored that the country not only clearly articulated its attitude but also succeeded to defend its position.
The minister said that he has boosted and improved relationships with neighbors. Apart from Poland, he has visited all neighboring countries and plans to visit Warsaw too by the end of this year. The minister also says he managed to ease tension between Bratislava and Budapest, which agreed to not surprise each other and resolve misunderstandings on the ground of joint commissions. Therefore, Dzurinda refused to comments on Hungary’s plan to give the voting rights also to ethnic Hungarians living outside the country.
Dzurinda highlighted he was interested in having good and normal relations with Russia. He wants to support Slovakia’s interests including diversification of energy sources. “I do not know whether it is in the interest of Moscow, but it is definitively in the interest of Slovakia to have the Nabucco project implemented. On Monday, he and his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindellegger are to open a pipeline allowing reverse flow of natural gas, which is also a beneficial step for Slovakia.
SITA