President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputovala began her week-long visit to Eastern Slovakia on Monday in Košice, during which she will also visit Bardejov, Prešov and Trebišov. Today, Tuesday (28 March), she welcomed Estonian President Alar Karis in Košice for his official visit. According to the TASR press agency, the topics of the negotiations were the current geopolitical situation, the development of bilateral cooperation and Slovak security issues. President Zuzana Caputova met on Monday Kosice mayor Jaroslav Polacek and mayors of the surrounding municipalities to mainly discuss the current state of preparations for the geothermal energy utilisation project. During her visit to the Children's Faculty Hospital (DFN) in Košice on Monday, President Zuzana Čaputová drew attention to the need for an early expansion of the capacities of the facility, adding that the government should allocate funds for the construction of the hospital extension. "I consider it to be absolutely necessary for paediatric patients in the entire Eastern Slovak region," she said about the hospital's project to expand its premises. According to the hospital, the extension of the building is key to providing high-quality health care for the paediatric oncology and haematology department, as well as highly specialised care for critical new-borns. The head of state also visited the neighbouring Eastern Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (VUSCH) which she described as a top workplace. "I have to say that it made a very strong impression on me. I was even able to watch a heart operation live, as this institute is the only one in Slovakia that has technology that allows students to watch several operations directly online while they are taking place, and can talk to the doctors who perform them," she told reporters.
Source: TASR
