During an informal meeting of NATO Defence Ministers held in Bratislava, the President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič met Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary General, in the Presidential Palace.

Rasmussen thanked the Slovak head of state for the staunch support to his candidacy for the post of NATO Secretary General.
According to Rasmussen, NATO intends to stay in Afghanistan and even plans to reinforce its military presence in the region. “One of the recommendations is to raise the number of Afghan security troops. It is an extremely important recommendation because we want to transfer the responsibility for peace and stability in Afghanistan to the Afghans themselves,” the NATO Secretary General pointed out.

President Gašparovič underlined in this respect that Slovakia contributed to peace-keeping operations in Afghanistan not only by deploying its military engineers. “We have currently 244 troops deployed in Afghanistan; their number will soon increase to 262. The Slovak National Council has approved the deployment of a medical team under ISAF operations. In order to ensure the performance of additional tasks, an 11-strong unit of Slovak Armed Forces troops left for Kandahar Air Base,” the President added.

Rasmussen said that NATO’s other priorities – in addition to Afghanistan – included terrorism, cyber crime and global security. The Alliance intends to discuss these issues with Russia as well, according to the NATO chief.

Commenting on the cooperation with Russia, Rasmussen noted that “at the same time, we have to adhere to the key principles, including with respect to Georgia and its sovereignty.” He further added that the Alliance would concentrate on the Western Balkans in the forthcoming period, and on the meeting of requirements under a Membership Action Plan, where Montenegro is closest to joining NATO.

President Gašparovič said he was glad to find out that he shared common opinions on the security policy with the NATO Secretary General. “The Balkans is an extremely important region as far as the peace and stability in Europe is concerned,” he pointed out.

Even though taking a different approach to the recognition of Kosovo sovereignty, the President said Slovakia would do its best to make sure that the conditions in Kosovo would not become unacceptable for the inhabitants of this Serbian province.
He also commented on NATO-Russia relations. “The Alliance needs to have good relations with the Russian Federation in order to benefit from anything that is good for both sides,” the President reminded.

The President also asked about a new NATO strategy, noting the fact that Slovakia was yet not represented on a respective committee. “I would like to ask you that the Slovak Republic be also invited to participate in the project because I think that we have good experts on some of the areas of Alliance’s key concern, namely on relations with the Western Balkans and Russia,” Gašparovič told Rasmussen.
He emphasised in this respect that the Alliance should listen to small countries as well.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen replied that he had formed the twelve-member committee solely on the basis of their expert knowledge, not from the point of view of member countries’ representatives. He added, however, that the committee was open to any comments or suggestions to be taken into account in drafting the new NATO strategic concept.

The head of NATO also told the Slovak President about his planned visit to the Russian Federation. “A strategic partnership between NATO and Russia is our priority but we will continue our open-door policy for anyone who would want to join the Alliance, including Georgia and Ukraine,” Rasmussen said.

President Gašparovič was also interested in hearing Rasmussen’s opinion on Russia’s potential involvement in Afghanistan. According to Rasmussen, Russia might provide training equipment for Afghan security troops.