Bilateral relations between Slovakia and Italy, as well as cooperation in the area of energy and defence sectors were high on the agenda of the talks held by interim Slovak Premier Eduard Heger with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday. "More than 400 Italian companies operate and invest here, which attests to the above-standard relations between our countries," said Heger. As he added, Italy also helped Slovakia shortly after the outbreak of Russian aggression in Ukraine by providing technical equipment to build an emergency tent camp in the eastern Slovak town of Michalovce. The country has also been participating in ensuring the defence and security of Slovakia. Italian soldiers and the Italian missile defence system have been deployed at the Kuchyna air base since this March.
Slovakia has also been developing strategic cooperation with Italy in the energy sector. "During my visit to Rome last year, contracts were signed for the supply of liquefied natural gas flowing to our territory from Italy. Memoranda with Italian energy companies were signed today, which will extend opportunities for cooperation in the area of the diversification of gas supplies, as well as the development of renewable energy projects. Slovak companies have entered into partnerships with Italian companies in the field of gas supplies and transport, the utilisation of capacities of LNG terminals in Italy, as well as in the development of wind and photovoltaic power plants. This attests to the fact that Italy is an important and significant partner for us," stressed the Slovak premier.
Slovakia and Italy are marking the 30th anniversary of establishing mutual diplomatic relations this year.
Source: TASR
