Lajcak, Pellegrini inaugurate new Slovak consulate general in New York

Slovakia has finally, after 26 years, acquired its own building in Manhattan, and it will be the country's home in New York, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday during the inauguration of the new Slovak consulate general in New York. "[Until now] our consulate general has been based in rented office space. It's handled requests for passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates and similar things, but it couldn't do other things that should be on its agenda, such as cultural and public diplomacy. It also couldn't invite Slovaks because it couldn't host them," the minister said. "That's why I'm very pleased that thanks to the government's understanding we were able to buy this decent building. It's a building in which Slovakia will have a home in New York."