According to the Slovak President, meetings with his Austrian partner have always been very instrumental to bilateral relations, as well as to sharing views on foreign policy. “We see you not only as a close neighbour, but also as a good friend on whose help we can always rely,” the President said, adding our bilateral cooperation was excellent and mutually rewarding in all aspects.

The two presidents also discussed the upcoming election for the European Parliament. According to Ivan Gašparovič, Slovakia, quite paradoxically, is one of the countries with the lowest turnout for EP election, even though the public support to the European Union ranks amongst the highest in Slovakia. One of the key issues on their agenda was the current crisis in Ukraine, the settlement of which is extremely important to maintaining stability in the region. The Austrian President said that "having invaded Crimea, Russia violated international law which has an adverse impact on the political climate between Russia and the US and Europe.” The Slovak head of state believes it is necessary to hold talks both with Russia and Ukraine to seek and find a compromise solution to the current situation. President Heinz Fischer also agrees that negotiations are a way to suppress radicalism and prevent further escalation of tensions.

The presidents also exchanged the highest state decorations of their respective countries. The Slovak President awarded his Austrian counterpart an Order of the White Double Cross of 1st Class, Heinz Fischer presented him with a Grand Star for Services to the Republic of Austria.

President Gašparovič later met with Barbara Prammer, the President of the National Council of Austria. The head of the Austrian parliament was interested in the recent development ahead of the upcoming presidential election in Slovakia. Ivan Gašparovič assured her that Slovakia’s foreign policy would not change after the presidential election, and noted that Slovakia currently had “the most pro-European government“. The recent developments in Ukraine were also on the agenda of their bilateral discussion, with the two officials having agreed the crisis needs to be resolved by means of a dialogue.

At the end of his visit to Austria, Ivan Gašparovič and his entourage visited the Vienna Rathaus where he was received by Vienna Mayor Michael Häupl. The Mayor of Vienna appreciated the close proximity of Austria and Slovakia, connected by the Danube river. He emphasised that our joint membership of the EU and the euro area had removed all barriers between the Austrians and Slovaks and further reinforced our friendship. “It is our central European region that has excellent prospects of further economic development, as also evidenced by the Danube Strategy initiative,” Michael Häupl said. According to the Slovak President, for the Bratislava citizens, Vienna is “an inspiring example of how a capital city should look like.” In his opinion, the proximity of our two capitals represents an outstanding opportunity to take advantage of synergies for their further development.