President Ivan Gašparovič and his spouse Silvia paid an official visit to Ukraine from 5 to 8 October 2010.

He held talks with his counterpart Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych. Both presidents confirmed the interest of both countries in developing good neighbourly relations. “Ukraine is interested in integration into the EU and other European structures,” President Yanukovych said.

“Ukraine ranks among our priority partners, because this country is important for the stability of the entire region and we want it to be a stable partner of both Slovakia and the European Union,” the Slovak President said in Kiev.

In his opinion, Slovakia would like to see Ukraine as a reliable partner in oil and gas transit through its territory to the Western Europe. At the end of their meeting, Ivan Gašparovič invited President Viktor Yanukovych for an official visit to the Slovak Republic.

Both presidents also jointly opened the Ukrainian-Slovak Economic Forum. According to Gašparovič, such economic forums, when attended by heads of state, are a guarantee that “businesspeople can enjoy full support of both countries’ top officials.” As he added, good cooperation should not be taken for granted. “It must be permanently maintained and a certain amount of courage to start a business abroad is also necessary,” Ivan Gašparovič encouraged the businesspeople.

The Slovak President also discussed bilateral relations with the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn, who reminded Gašparovič of Ukraine’s interest in a closer cooperation with the Visegrad Four countries. Also during his visit to Ukraine, Gašparovič met with Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko.

They discussed Ukraine’s interest in a more intensive dialogue with the Visegrad Four. The Slovak President promised the head of Ukrainian diplomacy to discuss this issue with the Slovak Prime Minister and also with other members of the V4 group, as Slovakia is currently holding the V4 presidency.