At a working breakfast in the Presidential Palace, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič met his counterpart from the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipović, who came to Bratislava to attend the Globsec international security forum.

 During the discussion, Ivan Gašparovič was pleased to note the successful progress in Croatia’s accession process. The fact that Slovakia was the first country to ratify the treaty of accession of Croatia to the European Union confirms our long-standing strategic interest in Croatia becoming a fully fledged member of European and trans-Atlantic organisations. Ivan Gašparovič assured his guest that, with the new government as well, the Slovak Republic is ready to continue supporting his country in the final pre-accession stage.

During their breakfast meeting, Ivan Gašparovič and Ivo Josipović also discussed economic topics. They coincided that although continuous bilateral trade growth was positive in the past three years, reaching a record EUR 290 million in 2011, there is still room for improvement in the higher forms of business cooperation. They also talked in more detail about developments in both countries’ social and education sphere, especially in the context of efforts to reduce unemployment of young people, in particular.