BRATISLAVA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak indicated on Tuesday that he will resign from his post if Parliament votes not to join the United Nations Global Compact on Migration.
"Ever since I've been a minister, I've been pushing for a democratic, pro-European vision of Slovakia that is part of the solutions. However, if the overwhelming proportion of MPs want Slovakia to be isolated, to be part of the problems and to leave solutions to others, in that case I cannot pursue such a policy," said Lajcak.
Lajcak went on to state that he'd spoken to Smer-SD chairman Robert Fico before the former prime minister published a video in which he described the UN compact as a document that's at odds with Slovakia's migration policy. Lajcak interpreted their conversation differently from Fico.
"The basic element was that we can't stick our heads in the sand or publish Facebook statuses; we need to communicate if we have any reservations," said Lajcak, adding that all those criticising the compact are in fact following other objectives.
"It's not about this document; this is about winning voter support..., they're all concentrating on our own petty politics," Lajcak pointed out. The head of Slovak diplomacy also wonders why his colleagues from Smer-SD want him to run in the presidential election even though they aren't supporting him in promoting the UN Global Migration Compact, which was adopted in 2017 when Lajcak served as the president of the UN General Assembly for the 72nd session.
"On one hand, I've failed, as I have de facto betrayed Slovakia's interests as president of the General Assembly, which is nonsense, but they're trying to imply that. On the other hand, I'm supposed to be good enough to become president," added Lajcak.
The main goal of the 34-page UN document is to help better organise migration flows and strengthen migrants' rights. Some countries including Australia, Austria, Hungary and the USA have already announced their withdrawal from the compact, with other countries planning to follow suit.
