"We didn't have a reasonable candidate until [president Klaus] Iohannis presented his candidacy. It is a legitimate candidacy," said Juraj Blanar, the Slovak foreign minister, in a press briefing at the end of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, quoted by Caleaeuropeana.ro. 

This consolidates a group of countries supporting not necessarily president Klaus Iohannis as a candidate for the Secretary-General position but as a candidate from the eastern part of Europe. 

Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijjarto reiterated on the same occasion his country's open support for a candidate coming from the Eastern flank of NATO. Previously, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski expressed support for a country coming from this part of Europe. 

"[...] I expected more openness, empathy, from the [NATO] member states, towards the requests of the countries in the eastern zone because these countries are most exposed to the conflict in Ukraine," said Slovak foreign minister Blanar, referring to the countries of the Bucharest-9 format (Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania).

The foreign minister of Slovakia stated that the region he comes from wants to hear how both candidates protect our security interests, stating that a topic of specific interest for his country is "air protection" and anticipating discussions with the Netherlands in this regard.

Asked about the time horizon when the next NATO Secretary General could be appointed, Juraj Blanar stated that a common agreement could be reached before the summit in Washington on July 9-11.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)