On Wednesday, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and the Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák went to Brussels to discuss Slovakia's upcoming Presidency of the EU Council. PM Fico met with the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Council President Donald Tusk. At the meeting Fico made clear that Slovakia's domestic politics won't influence the presidency. Regarding Slovakia's stance on migration, Jean-Claude Juncker said that the European commission has to respect the Slovak attitude; nevertheless, Robert Fico will need to find compromises for various opinions when leading the EU. According to Fico, the reform of the Dublin agreement about asylum seekers' relocation will perhaps be the toughest nut to crack, since there are very contradictory opinions on this topic and Slovakia refuses any relocation quotas.
The Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák, together with the Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the EU Peter Javorčík, faced questions from around 300 diplomats and journalists. "It was an excellent opportunity to officially present our priorities and I'm happy that the reactions were positive," said Lajčák. He confirmed that Slovakia supports the addition of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. According to him, these countries have met the necessary conditions and are taking active part in tackling the migration crisis in Europe. Lajčák noted that Slovakia is about to inherit functioning European coast and border guards from the Dutch presidency, and it will be up to Slovakia to oversee these operations in practice. Other issues will concern the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement and the revision of the Dublin asylum system.
