Miroslav Lajcak

The United Nations Security Council is set to conduct an informal vote on Monday, September 26, that is thought to be decisive in the race for the next UN Secretary General.

The ambassadors of 15 countries to the UN (the 15 ones currently in the Security Council) will be able to "encourage", "discourage" or give "no opinion" each one of the nine candidates.

Novinite is publishing an article authored by Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of the forthcoming informal EU Summit in Bratislava on Septemer 16, Friday.

Slovakia is currently holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

NEW YORK - A fourth round of the vote to select the new UN secretary-general was held at the UN headquarters in New York Friday, with former Portuguese PM Antonio Guterres still leading the race as Serbia's candidate Vuk Jeremic remains in third position, but with two more encourage votes than in the previous round.

Turkey's foreign and EU ministers have met with ministers from across Europe in Istanbul to discuss the handling of the migrant crisis ahead of an EU ministers meeting in the Netherlands on April 11-12.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and EU Minister Volkan Bozk?r hosted ministers from the Netherlands, which holds the EU presidency, France, Slovakia and Portugal on April 9.

Western Balkan countries would be worst hit by the collapse of Schengen, Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has warned.

Lajcak also believes the conditions have not been met for Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a candidate country for EU membership in February.

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has warned that the EU must not "demotivate" candidates for membership.

He added that the credibility of the enlargement process of the Union depends on whether both sides respect with the agreed rules.

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Monday the opening of the negotiating chapters with the EU was "an earned and great day for Serbia."

He also emphasized that he "read it nowhere" that recognizing Kosovo was one of the conditions in the process of Serbia's EU integration.

Kosovo's Minister of European Integration, Bekim Collaku, on Wednesday said the government would sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, with the EU next week. "The signing will take place next week on October 27th 2015 in Strasbourg," he said.

Miroslav Lajcak says a planned referendum in the RS on the state-level judicial system in Bosnia is "unacceptable, and will certainly not be held."

Bulgaria "has found itself under unwelcome scrutiny from financial experts and Western banks worried that Greece's troubles could spread havoc farther afield," the New York Times writes in an article on Bulgaria.