President Zuzana Caputova called the Council of Europe summit which began in Iceland on Tuesday an event of milestone importance, as top leaders from 46 European countries met together for the first time after 18 years, TASR learnt from its special correspondent who travelled with the President.
Caputova emphasised that the summit will revolve around the defence of democracy, which currently faces a number of internal but also external pressures in Europe and around the globe. The European leaders will also discuss aid for Ukraine.
"I'm pleased that we're part of a good club of countries that respect democracy and democratic values and that consider it to be a good thing to meet and discuss how to strengthen them - and, of course, how to help Ukraine even better and more," said the President.
The Slovak head of state will have several bilateral meetings and talks on the sidelines of the summit. "I want to assure our partners that the caretaker government, appointed by me Monday, will maintain the continuity of a reliable partner, in terms of our foreign affairs orientation," she said.
The Slovak head of state added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won't attend the summit in person but will be connected online. She pointed out that she spoke with him for several hours during her recent visit to Ukraine. According to her, it's important that his ideas are heard in Reykjavik.
(TASR)
