Difficult decision-making by Minister Ivan Korčok | Conservative daily – postoj.sk

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is dealing with the most serious dilemma of his career. Photo: TASR/Jaroslav Novák If any member of this government managed to increase his political capital in just over two years, it is Ivan Korčok. Today, he is a sought-after figure on the political market. Richard Sulík speaks of him as his possible successor at the head of the SaS, as a politician who could be prime minister in the future, and claims that he offered him “practically everything” to bind him to his party. At the same time, there was speculation all summer about the Minister of Foreign Affairs as the main face of a new political entity that Mikuláš Dzurinda was supposed to create from the background. In addition to all this, in recent weeks there have been several calls for Ivan Korčok not to leave the post of minister under any circumstances, because there would be a danger that without him our foreign policy would collapse and deviate sharply in some dangerous direction. This is, of course, a myth, although quite popular and often repeated. It is enough to remember similar voices, when at one time the minister Miroslav Lajčák threatened to resign for the so-called Marrakesh Convention. It is folklore, largely insulting to the entire Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service. If foreign policy really depended on one person, it would be really bad for this country. However, this does not change the fact that Ivan Korčok has grown into an interesting politician as a minister. He succeeded mainly thanks to his rational approach, competence and authority. Although it should be added that distinguishing oneself in these attributes from several ministerial colleagues was not such a big problem. Now Minister Korčok is faced with the question of how he will deal with this acquired political capital. That is, whether he will try to take advantage of it in domestic politics, as Eduard Kukan once did, or whether he will use the career of head of diplomacy as a stepping stone to international diplomatic posts. Several things speak rather in favor of the second option. Korčok is a thoroughbred diplomat with a certain flexibility of attitude that belongs to this profession. During the period between 1996 and 1997, he was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Remembrancers know that this ministry was a relative island of normality at the time, but the speaker was not a rank-and-file clerk, and not everyone had the stomach for it at the time. Later, Ivan Korčok was perceived as a person close to SDKÚ, but he had no problem working in Fico’s government either. During the period when Miroslav Lajčák was the head of the UN General Assembly, Korčok was even the de facto minister of foreign affairs. At that time, he loyally defended our critical position against mandatory quotas for the redistribution of migrants. Later, from the post of ambassador to the USA, he reprimanded foreign diplomats for participating in the Rainbow Marches. With this adaptability, which he combines with competence and experience, Ivan Korčok has all the prerequisites to safely climb the ladder of global diplomatic functions. If Ivan Korčok decides to immerse himself in Slovak politics, he will risk a lot. Share If he decides to immerse himself in Slovak politics, he will risk a lot. Today, we live in times of emotional politics, which do not favor Korčok-type politicians, but rather leaders capable of arousing emotions and polarizing to the core. Korčok’s brother-in-law Maroš Šefčovič also had the opportunity to find out to what extent Slovak party politics is different from acting on the international forum during his short episode with the presidential candidacy. No one was interested in his experience in foreign policy, his results in Brussels or in diplomacy, and he was almost exclusively confronted with the causes of Smer. Maroš Šefčovič returned to his European post after losing the elections, but not everyone who fails in domestic politics is guaranteed a similarly happy scenario. Even if several things speak against it, Slovak politics would benefit from the arrival of a pragmatic and consensual leader like Ivan Korčok. It would be a move against the trend of turning public affairs into vaudeville, and it would be interesting to see how successful it would be. For part of the people who are fed up with emotional politics, it could be an alternative. For many conservative voters, Ivan Korčok would probably never be the first choice, as he holds more liberal views on several topics. On the other hand, he rather belongs to those liberals with whom – in contrast to the progressive avant-garde – one can find common ground on many important issues.