§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights in the Republic of Slovakia. [18576]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonSlovakia is party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and has ratified the Framework Convention on National Minorities. We expect Slovakia to abide by its commitments under these instruments. We are also encouraging the Slovak Government to address the shortcomings in democratic standards identified in the Commission's Opinion on Slovakia's application for EU membership.