Slovak President Receives President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy in the Presidential Palace

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič held talks with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy in the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on Thursday, 7 July.

“I am glad that you have come to Slovakia at the time of intensive discussions about solutions to the economic situation inside the EU. I hope we will manage to find a solution that will boost citizens’ confidence in the functioning of the EU,” Ivan Gašparovič said at the beginning of the meeting. At the same time he noted that “we will have to be very consistent in fulfilling our commitments and agreements.” The Slovak Republic has already complied with its obligations arising under the European semester and sent both the National Reform Programme for 2011-2014 and the Stability Programme for 2011-2014 to Brussels.

“When we talk about the crisis in the euro zone, about the future of the Schengen area, the EU enlargement and the budgetary framework for the next seven years, all of these are very important issues for the future of the EU,” Herman Van Rompuy pointed out. He said that the EU would respect a decision of the Slovak parliament. He noted, however, that the EU needed every single vote as far as the issue of rescuing the Greek economy was concerned. “The future of the euro zone and of the EU is in the hands of every one of us,” he added.

He further confirmed that “it will be possible to admit Croatia to the EU, which is an important signal for the Western Balkan region. I hope that we will be able to accept Serbia’s application in December, which will be a second, very strong signal for the Western Balkan countries.”

The European Council President expects a challenging discussion to be held with respect to the EU budget framework under which Slovakia should obtain 3% of GDP from Structural Funds. The discussion on the EU budget for the next seven years could be completed in 2012, according to President Van Rompuy.

The Slovak President said he believed that Slovakia would not be a country that would veto such an important EU decision on the financial assistance to Greece. He explained why the Slovak Republic had taken a critical approach to Greece bailout, adding that the EU also bore its share of responsibility in this case. According to Gašparovič, the EU has to oversee the economic performance of its individual Member States. “I much appreciate that the Greek prime minister won support for the reform measures in the parliament, but the position taken by the Greek opposition is a disappointment,” he added.

According to the Slovak President, the EU will have to strictly oversee the reform process in Greece, especially with respect to guarantees in the form of state-owned assets and their privatisation. He added that the involvement of the International Monetary Fund would be necessary. The Slovak Republic will approach this issue with solidarity. “Solidarity is needed but it requires both parties to bear responsibility,” President Gašparovič added.

Herman Van Rompuy said that the EU proposed solutions for Portugal, Ireland and Greece along with the conditions under which loans would be provided to these countries. “The problem of Greece is not the tax rates; the problem is that Greece has no effective and functioning tax collection system in place,” he noted.

The Slovak President said he was confident that “the accession of Croatia, Serbia and possibly other Western Balkan countries to the EU would significantly strengthen the stability in this region.” He further added that the EU should already resolve the long outstanding issue of Turkey’s entry to the EU. The Slovak Republic supports Turkey’s integration into the Community, the Slovak President said.