The Czech Republic is a very important partner for Slovakia, and we want to further develop our excellent relations, said Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) at a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky, who visited Slovakia on Tuesday.
"We want to develop all areas that are related to our ties, namely family, studies, business, culture, but also compatriots, because there's a numerous group of Slovak citizens, including students, [in the Czech Republic]," said Blanar.
The Slovak minister explained that he and Lipavsky discussed measures to ensure closer cooperation of young people in the two countries. He also announced a joint intent to prepare a basis for a memorandum of understanding that would ensure the exchange of mutual experience between the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Lipavsky said that he considers Slovakia to be the country that has always been and always will be historically, culturally and humanly closest to the Czech Republic. "Our mutual relations are above-standard, but we also have to take care of them, we have to work on their development, come up with new ideas, and I think that today's meeting has confirmed that the will is on both sides," he remarked.
The ministers also discussed the importance of the Visegrad Group (V4), the Austerlitz Format (S3) and the Central 5 (C5) initiative, as well as the issue of illegal migration. According to Blanar, both countries want to look for other, more effective ways of functioning within the European Union and the Schengen area than reintroducing border checks. The head of Slovak diplomacy also pointed out that cooperation between the Czech Republic and Slovakia is important at the level of energy, transport and security.
(TASR)
