Address by President of the Slovak Republic at the New Year's meeting with members of diplomatic corps accredited in the Slovak Republic, Bratislava, 15. 1. 2014

This is for the tenth time that I am meeting with you during the first days of a new year. However, it is the last time that I am here with you on this occasion as President of the Slovak Republic. In the beginning, I wish to note that I have had the opportunity to meet almost all heads of your states in my two terms in office. It is with great satisfaction that I acknowledge that they often showed a great deal of understanding for Slovakia’s positions, as well as its problems. I am glad that these foreign policy activities have also helped Slovakia to present itself as a trustworthy partner and reliable member of the international community. Please, convey my sincere gratitude and greetings to your highest state officials.

As you all know, the end of the year was marked by a tragic event. Another two Slovak soldiers perished in a treacherous terrorist attack in Afghanistan. This is an extremely sorrowful situation for their families and for all of us alike. However, we are well aware that we bear our share of responsibility for meeting our allied commitments. We shall not get intimidated by terrorism and we shall remain in Afghanistan until the very end of the ongoing international operations.

Solidarity in the world and Europe was in high demand also last year. And Slovakia remained active and solidary through its active membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. In keeping with the spirit of solidarity and responsibility, also the last year confirmed that Slovakia’s foreign policy remains primarily focused on supporting the EU eastern policy, stability in the Western Balkans, good neighbourly relations and, last but not least, mutually beneficial economic cooperation with your countries.

Slovakia is pro-European. We do everything to stay at the core of the European integration process. We know that our EU membership has brought much more benefits than negatives to our people and the economy. However, it is still not that simple to explain, in a comprehensible way, the decisions and laws adopted at the EU level to our citizens. It needs to be done in a much more intensive, convincing and trustworthy manner. It is the only way to prevent populist and extremist groups from gaining strength as their opinions and influence are dangerously spreading across several European countries. We, in Slovakia, also realise these risks, and we will take them into due account in our further actions.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Slovakia celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its sovereign existence last year. This year, we will commemorate the tenth anniversary of our accession to the European Union and NATO, along with the 25th anniversary of the “Velvet Revolution” that opened the doors towards building a free and democratic society. In addition, it has already been five years since Slovakia acceded to the Schengen Agreement and entered the euro area. We will also celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising this summer.

All of these anniversaries have one thing in common - they reflect the endeavours to establish Slovakia as a dignified partner within the community of modern and democratic European countries. I wish to particularly emphasise that our present existence and policies draw on the anti-fascist legacy of the Slovak National Uprising. We realise that as long as the post-war arrangement of relations in Europe functions in a stable manner, as long as we can find a more effective modus vivendi in the European Union, we do not have to worry about peace, stability and positive development across our continent and the region.

I often reiterate, and I must admit I am proud of it, that Slovakia’s success story serves as an inspiration to other countries with which we share our experience of the transition process; whether they are countries of the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, as well as more distant countries of Africa and Asia.

We are pleased with the positive development of Serbia-Kosovo relations. I note with satisfaction that we contributed to this progress also through the 18th summit of the heads of Central and Eastern European states held in Bratislava last June. We consider the summit a unique platform exactly for this kind of unparalleled regional communication.

Speaking about Europe’s eastern policy, I cannot but mention Ukraine. You know that I, along with Polish President Komorowski and other presidents from the region, worked very hard to persuade our friends in the Union that we should take a constructive approach to Ukraine’s European integration efforts. The moment we succeeded, the Ukrainian leaders decided otherwise. It is their sovereign right. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that modernising Ukraine in line with European standards would be particularly beneficial not only for Ukraine and other countries of the region, but for Russia as well. I mention this with a sincere wish for closer cooperation between Russia and the Union. Because cooperation between the European Union and Russia is inevitable.

Good neighbourly relations are a yardstick for how mature the policy of a country is. Peace and stability in the region are in the vital interest of Slovakia. As in the past year, we will continue this positive dialogue with our neighbours also this year. We will support cooperation within the Visegrad Four group, as well as within the V4 Plus format.

We will consistently pay attention to the development of our external economic relations and creating conditions conducive to attracting foreign investments to Slovakia, with particular focus on sectors with a higher added value, including cooperation in the fields of science, technology and innovation.

Slovakia is not self-centred. The world today is full of human tragedy caused by military conflicts, terrorism and other forms of violence, violations of the fundamental human rights, hunger, diseases or natural disasters. No suffering in the world today is too distant for us not to have to feel concerned. We can see it, for example, on the influx of immigrants to Europe driven by the crisis in Syria. Slovakia is trying to contribute towards addressing global challenges and problems, be it through its engagement in international organisations or through the provision of bilateral development and humanitarian aid. For Slovakia, the multilateral system of the UN represents the main platform to address global crises. We are proud of our citizens who have experience from top posts in international organisations.

Excellencies, Dear Guests,

I have made several comments on the domestic policy developments over the past few days. I only wish to make a few points in this respect. We have just entered a challenging year of elections. The political scene will be more agitated than usual. I wish that campaigns ahead of the presidential, European parliamentary as well as local elections concentrate on the issues of economic and social growth, combating unemployment, intellectual and moral recovery of our society, support for health, education and science development, and reduction of administrative burden. Simply put, on searching for a long-term vision for Slovakia, rather than on some made-up issues that infuse people’s minds with confusion, hatred, depression, and further polarise society.

As far as the presidential election is concerned, I have only one comment to make: I am convinced that the twenty years of democratic development, social sacrifices our people had to make along the challenging path towards transformation is a long enough time to have taught the citizens, the voters, to distinguish between a pre-election empty words and a reasonable vision of what the society and public budget can really afford.

The approaching presidential election represents a good opportunity to reflect on how I performed during my two terms in the presidential office. But as I have already said in my New Year’s address to the citizens, leave it to others to assess the second decade of sovereign Slovakia and the president’s role in it. In doing so, they can hardly ignore our full participation in international policy and allied activities within NATO and the European Union. They just cannot ignore such policy milestones as our admission to the Schengen area, adoption of the euro currency, organisation of high-profile international events, including the Bush-Putin Summit 2005 in Bratislava and the last year’s summit of Central and Eastern European presidents, our solidarity with the euro area countries affected by sovereign debt crisis, falls of governments, economic and social crises that we succeeded to navigate through, also with the President’s engagement. In addition, we have managed to remain a predictable, reliable and committed member of the international community. It was a period of strenuous efforts, years of tremendous changes, ongoing reforms and successfully accomplished strategic integration decisions, thanks to which the world opened to Slovakia. We can genuinely be proud of what we have achieved. Slovakia has to continue in this direction.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to thank you for your cooperation and active engagement in the development of mutually beneficial relations with the Slovak Republic.
To the citizens of your countries and their highest officials, to you personally and to your dear ones I wish strong health, happiness and success throughout the year 2014.