Year 2006

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President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič Attended the V4 Summit in Lány

September 16, 2006

President of the Slovak Republic SR Ivan Gašparovič attended the two-day summit of the Presidents of the V4 countries in Lány, the Czech Republic. The heads of state visiting the Czech Republic were accompanied also by the First Ladies. At the summit titled „V4 after Fifteen Years”, the heads of state judged the past period and discussed common interests and priorities. The Presidents of the V4 countries are convinced that to advocate their interests jointly is more effective than individually by each state separately. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary find inevitable to stick to the original deadline of extending the Schengen Zone of the border-free travel area planned for the next year.

The Presidents insist on equal conditions of adopting euro, and want to urge to cancel the visa requirements for the V4 citizens travelling to the USA. Following the summit, President Ivan Gašparovič stated that the prestige of the Visegrad 4 group was growing. According to him, it is confirmed also by the fact that there are some other countries, such as Austria, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, wishing to join the group. As he said, the heads of state talked also about issues of the European constitutional treaty, some language questions and problems to be solved by the European Union in the future.

„We clearly agreed on opinions directly related to the positions of our countries and having impacts on our citizens “, said the President of the Slovak Republic. He added that in addition to the issue of enlargement of the European Union „one of the priorities was a question of status of our citizens within the European Union in social, economic and political terms “.

The programme of Ivan Gašparovič included also bilateral meetings with President of the Republic of Hungary László Sólyom and President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński. The talk with the Hungarian President resonated by the existing tense situation between the two countries. Ivan Gašparovič emphasized that internal problems should by solved by each state by itself without placing the issues of Slovak-Hungarian relations into the agenda of discussions on the grounds of the EU or anywhere else in the world.

„These are criminal shouts of individuals and groups. Slovakia’s legislation has the tools to prevent from such problems in the future,” said the President of the Slovak Republic referring to the extremist attacks occurred recently in both, Slovakia and Hungary. "Neither of the countries should return to the problems of the past. On the contrary, they should look forward,” underlined Ivan Gašparovič. A symbol of both Presidents’ efforts for dialogues and improvements in the mutual relations is their intention to appear at the university of the other country. The Hungarian President will visit the University in Banská Bystrica in November, and the Slovak President will visit one of the universities in Hungary.

During the talks with Polish President Lech Kaczyński, both politicians appreciated the high level of the bilateral relations and the open dialogue between the two countries. They pointed out the fast developing cooperation, in particular in the border areas, and declared their interests in intensifying the cooperation in the field of tourism. The heads of state talked also about topical European issues, in which Slovakia and Poland hold very close positions and opinions as the two countries share an identical view of values, development and solidarity of Europe and the European Union.

Within the programme of the Summit, the Presidents of the V4 countries with their wives paid tribute to T. G. Masaryk by laying flowers at his grave. Then they also visited the Lány game-park. Afterwards they jointly revealed the „Presidents Bench” which will commemorate their meetings.

After the departure from Lány, President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič and his entourage visited the city of Plzeň. He met with the Mayor of Plzeň and regional officers, and visited the Plzeň brewery too.

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