In response to the United Kingdom officially triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to initiate its departure from the EU on Wednesday, Foreign and European Affairs Ministry state secretary Ivan Korčok stated that Slovakia's priority during the EU talks with the United Kingdom will be the interests of Slovakia and its citizens. The state secretary elucidated that the next course of action regarding Brexit will become clear in the next few days, and preparations for talks are now to begin, which are set to culminate with an extraordinary summit on April 29 in Brussels. Subsequently, comprehensive talks between the EU and Britain will follow.
"On behalf of Slovakia, I'd like to say that we consider Britain today but even the Britain of the future to be an extremely important country. Economically, it is a strong investor in Slovakia, so our priority is to preserve and promote our interests, the interests of our citizens, as well as to enjoy cordial bilateral relations after Britain's departure," stressed Korčok.
Ivan Korčok also confirmed that Slovakia will vie for the European Medicines Agency to relocate from London to Bratislava. A potential advantage for Bratislava in this regard might be the fact that no EU agency is headquartered in Slovakia yet. "It's an enormous agency with 1,000 employees and, understandably, the country must offer a sufficient environment. It's about accommodating all these employees and their relatives and creating the whole infrastructure. We're going to give our bid a try," he said.
