President of the Slovak Republic Received Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov

President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič received Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

Their talks included a wide range of issues regarding the relations of the two countries, also in the international context. President Ivan Gašparovič underlined the good bilateral relations, and at the same time he mentioned the possibility to make the trade and economic cooperation as well as political dialogues more dynamic. In the last three years, the mutual trade turn over has significantly increased.

The share of Russia in the total import to the Slovak Republic accounts for 11 %, though the Slovak export to the Russian Federation accounts for only 1.6% of the total Slovak export. President Ivan Gašparovič remarked that he can well imagine investment cooperation of businessmen of the two countries in third countries. During the talks, President Ivan Gašparovič showed his interest in solving the Chechnya issue, and Sergey Lavrov made him sure that the solution of this problem is a priority of the Russian Government. Considering the bilateral cooperation, the partners talked about the cooperation in the power industry, in particular in the field of nuclear power. They also talked about cultural cooperation.

International topics included topics related to the Kosovo issue which according to both politicians has exceeded the regional framework and become a world problem. The partners shared the opinion that those Kosovo citizens who were forced to leave their homes should be allowed to safely come back home any time.

As for the Iraq and Iran problem, the partners agreed on a need to achieve a political stability guaranteed by treaties and agreements, applying diplomatic and political channels for the sake of preventing destabilization in this region. With understanding, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov commented on commitments of Slovakia due to its membership in the EU and NATO.

In connection with the Slovakia’s membership in the UN Security Council, Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian party would welcome when Slovakia would act as a fully-fledged member also in solving issues of the global terrorism. Regarding the situation in Belarus, the Ukraine and Moldavia, the partners did not take an identical view either. Nevertheless, Sergey Lavrov remarked that the Russian party can understand the position of the Slovak Republic. Finally, the partners talked about the visit of President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič to the Russian Federation, being prepared for the end of this year.