Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič received Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Vice President of the European Commission, in the Presidential Palace. The discussion of both representatives, who were joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák, revolved around the issues of the Western Balkans, Ukraine’s effort to join the EU, as well as other questions related to EU’s common foreign and security policy.

According to Gašparovič, the Western Balkans is a region which is close to Slovakia not only due to its geographical location. Slovakia has been active in the region for a long time, fulfilling – through its policies and activities – the strategic vision of the countries wishing to join the EU. According to the President, Slovakia supports an early establishment of the deadline for the commencement of EU’s accession negotiations with the Republic of Serbia. The President summarised the conclusions of his recent meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and his expectations concerning the future development of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. As noted by Slovakia’s highest representative, “our position regarding Kosovo’s independence remains unchanged. However, we do fully support the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue which is currently taking place.” Gašparovič said that, rather than making unilateral decisions, it was only through dialogue that a sustainable solution to the Kosovo issue can be achieved.

During his talks with Ashton, the Slovak head of state touched upon the developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina where two entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia – are failing to reach an agreement concerning the future form of the common state.

Gašparovič also informed Ashton about his last week’s meeting with Polish President Bronisław Komorowski and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Wisła, Poland where they discussed Ukraine’s integration with the European Union. We welcome the fact that, when attending the recent EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels, the Ukrainian leaders understood our criteria and the unique chance to become the first eastern partner to essentially bring the relations with the EU to a higher level, President Gašparovič said. “In Wisła, President Yanukovych gave me his personal assurances that Ukraine would meet the specified criteria. On the other hand, the EU must also be prepared to live up to its promise,” the Slovak President told Catherine Ashton. “President Komorowski and I agreed that we should continue to organise such meetings with the Ukrainian president in the future,” Gašparovič said.

The Slovak President also informed Catherine Ashton about the prepared 18th summit of the Central European heads of state slated for June 12-13, 2013 in Bratislava, adding that 20 presidents of the Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries had been invited to attend the event.