The key topic on the agenda of his bilateral talks with Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič was the current economic situation in Europe and in their respective countries. President Gašparovič noted with regret that Greece had been extremely badly hit by the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis.
“We are aware that Greece has been going through hard times in the recent years. It is difficult to correct old mistakes and fight the impacts of the crisis,” the Slovak President said, adding they were even more felt in Slovakia.
“We appreciate the sacrifice made by Greek citizens, as well as the efforts of the Greek government to responsibly meet its budgetary objectives and carry out reforms. I want to say that Greece has our support. We openly discussed our assistance to Greece because it was not that simple to explain our citizens, whose social situation was worse than that of the people in Greece, why and how we should contribute to this assistance. It even resulted in the fall of the Slovak government,” Ivan Gašparovič said.

He also noted it had already been 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic contacts between Greece and Slovakia, and ten years since the signing of the accession treaty between Slovakia and the EU in Athens.

He further appreciated an economic event organised as part of his Greek partner's visit to Slovakia, designed to facilitate and improve a mutual exchange of information on business opportunities in the two countries.

The Slovak President also supported development in bilateral cooperation at the municipal and regional level as another dimension in relations between the two countries and their citizens. There is also room for improvement in cultural cooperation and in science and research. In addition, the two presidents appreciated the quality of cooperation in the tourism industry.
On 1 January 2014, Greece will assume the presidency of the EU Council. “You are about to take over the presidency in difficult times. Reinforcing EU’s image among its citizens is a great challenge that should help support its stability and prosperity,” President Gašparovič said.

The Cyprus issue and relations between Kosovo and Serbia were also on the agenda. “I am glad we managed to have the Serbian President and a Kosovo official sitting behind one table at this year’s summit of 20 presidents in Slovakia, and that their meetings have continued since,” the Slovak head of state concluded.