Klaus Iohannis' candidacy for NATO is legitimate, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Thursday in Brussels, but he did not express his country's support for the current Romanian president, but said that he was waiting to see how the two candidates intend to protect the security interests of the Central-Eastern European countries.
Klaus Iohannis is running for NATO leadership. PHOTO Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea (Archive)
“Slovakia is serious about approaching the subject of the future head of NATO and I expected more openness, empathy, from the member states, towards the demands of the countries in the eastern zone because these countries are most exposed to the conflict in Ukraine”Blanar declared on the sidelines of the NATO meeting, referring to the countries of the Bucharest-9 format (Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
“We expected to discuss our interests much more. We did not have a reasonable candidate until Mr. Iohannis presented his candidacy. It is a legitimate candidacy. Our position is very clear. We want to hear how both candidates want to protect our security interests. Particular for Slovakia is the topic of anti-aircraft protection, because starting from April 1st we are no longer air-protected by any system, after Italy withdrew its temporary anti-aircraft battery“, explained the head of diplomacy from Bratislava, writes Agerpres.
“A Common Agreement”
He said he wants to see how Klaus Iohannis or Mark Rutte will solve this problem, “no matter who it will be“, and specified that his country will hold bilateral talks with the Netherlands because it also had an anti-aircraft system that it withdrew from Slovakia.
“We assume that we will reach a common agreement before the summit in Washington“, said the Slovak minister when asked what is the time horizon in which the new secretary general will be decided.
Czech minister Jan Lipavsky showed favor for an appointment of Mark Rutte as the head of NATO, although his country did not express a clear position at the meeting of foreign ministers of the NATO states.
Asked if he expressed himself for or against the candidacy of Klaus Iohannis, he stated in a briefing on Thursday that no such vote was reached during the ministerial meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. Lipavsky expressed his hope that the process of electing a new NATO Secretary General will be completed at the latest at the informal meeting of foreign ministers in Prague at the end of May or at the latest at the summit of the North Atlantic Alliance in Washington.
