President of the Slovak Republic meets with Polish Prime Minister Tusk

The President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Donald Tusk.

During the meeting the high quality of Slovak-Polish relations, as well as their good cross-border cooperation were appreciated. The reformed EU Lisbon Treaty was also discussed. According to the Slovak President the European countries should ratify the Treaty to confirm the Union’s future. Although President Gašparovič has reservations concerning this document he is convinced that its rejection by the Union could result in problems. President Gašparovič also presented the standpoint of the Slovak Republic that, as a neighbouring country and a member of NATO, it is following discussions regarding the construction of a missile base in Poland.

Donald Tusk described Polish-Slovak relations to be of the “highest standard” and expressed the belief that the good historical coexistence of the two nations contributes to the cooperation at such an excellent level. He pointed out the fact that the Slovak Republic is leading its V4 neighbours, particularly in terms of economy but also in its determination to access the Eurozone as early as next year.

According to the Polish Prime Minister his country is also interested in building a quality road infrastructure to improve the connection with Slovakia. Donald Tusk appreciated Slovakia’s efforts aimed at enhancing the cooperation between the V4 states.

The President and the Prime Minister agreed that the cooperation between the V4 countries is also justified in the light of their membership in the EU. The Polish Prime Minister declared an interest in a fruitful cooperation between the EU and the Russian Federation as well as direct cooperation between Poland and neighbouring Russia. Regarding the serious topic of missile defence he said: “We care that the construction of a missile shield is closely integrated with NATO strategy. It should help to increase the security of countries in our region.”

The reaction of President Ivan Gašparovič was that “Europe cannot ignore the situation where a head of state says about another state that it should be erased from the world map”.

The Polish Prime Minister is convinced that Euro-Atlantic cooperation is the way to ensure the security of the Central European region.