Slovak President Receives Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński

The President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič received Jarosław Kaczyński, Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

In their discussion, both partners praised the dynamic economic cooperation but noted that the transport infrastructure needed to be completed for the sake of its further development. They also discussed the cooperation among the Visegrad Four (V4) countries and Polish Prime Minister Kaczyński expressed his support for more intensive cooperation. He said there was certain diversity in the foreign political approaches, in particular as regards cooperation with the Russian Federation. In his opinion, however, this should not be an obstacle to mutual cooperation. In terms of security issues and NATO, the Polish Prime Minister said his country was keen on informing Slovakia about the preparation and implementation of the so-called missile defence shield project in Poland.

President Ivan Gašparovič said the joint tactics of Europe and the U.S. were working within the framework of global security protection and therefore he would support mutual discussions on the forms of participation in such defence projects. He sees the future of the fight against terrorism in the Russia–NATO joint defence policy. As regards the Kosovo issue, Slovakia is fully aware of being a member of the EU which has its own view on this matter.

The Slovak Republic as a member of the United Nations Security Council bears a great deal of moral responsibility for the future of the Western Balkans. The Polish Prime Minister noted he was familiar with the declaration of the National Council of the Slovak Republic concerning Kosovo and that he understood why Slovaks took such a stance on this issue.

President Gašparovič added that Slovakia would respect any decision concerning the future of Kosovo, although being aware of certain risks which must be borne in mind with respect to this issue. Both partners also discussed the future of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, whereby the Slovak President said it was necessary to resolve the position of the national parliaments in relation to the European Parliament.