On Thursday, April 11, 2024, representatives of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments met in the city of Michalovce in the east of Slovakia.The outcome of
the meeting is a reinforcement of mutual cooperation between the two countries.
“The lesson from today is that you have to put aside fear, prejudices, bring people
together, remove bureaucratic obstacles and you will find that difficult decisions can be made,” declared the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico.
“I asked my cabinet ministers to take into account when negotiating with Ukrainian partners the gravity of tasks the members of the Ukrainian government have to deal with compared to their Slovak counterparts. Let them abstain from the typical
bureaucratic approach that sometimes prevents us from taking quick decisions in Slovakia. I think we succeeded, because not only today, but also during the
preparation of joint documents, the most important of which is the joint road map, we showed that we are interested in being good neighbors,” added the Slovak Prime Minister.
During the meeting, Robert Fico reiterated that the use of military force in Ukraine was a gross violation of international law and emphasized that Ukraine needs help and solidarity. He called the end of the war as soon as possible and the establishment of peace a priority. In this context, he offered Ukrainian partners
maximum cooperation in the search for peaceful solutions, such as the upcoming international summit in Switzerland. The Slovak Prime Minister also once again expressed support for Ukraine’s interest in becoming a member of the European
Union.
An extremely important outcome of the meeting was the agreement on improving the energy connection on the Mukachevo – Velke Kapusany route. We have already shown great help in the reverse gas flowin the past, now we realize how important the energy connection is. I would like to emphasise that energy intrastructure is the most frequent target of attacks during this war conflict, and therefore we understand Ukraine’s need to secure sufficient electricity supply,” noted Robert Fico. In the energy sector, the partners also discussed the need to diversity gas imports to Europe.
The representatives of Slovakia and Ukraine discussed also military help, specifically
with demining of Ukrainian territories.
“We also talked about special multi-purpose
excavators, explained Robert Fico. He added that the Slovak Republic is still ready to cooperate with regards to military supplies on a commercial basis, and the Minister of Defense of the Slovak Republic, Robert Kalinak, and the Deputy Minister of
Defense of Ukraine, Ivan Havryliuk, also conducted negotiations along these terms.
At the same time, Slovakia offered Ukraine assistance in providing health care for people affected by the war.
A topic of the negotiations was also the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
In this context, Robert Fico stated that Slovakia wil provide transitional corridors for export ofUkrainian agricultural products to countries that needthem.
“However, I explained to the Prime Minister how important it is to protect the interests of Slovak
farmers, and unless a joint solution is found, a ban on import of 14 agricultural products wil continue to apply,” he stated.
At the meeting in Michalove, the Slovak and Ukrainian ministers agreed on establishing a railway direct connection between Kyiv and Kosice. They also agreed on the returbishment of Vysne Nemecke border crossing in order to increase its
capacity. As part ofcross-border cooperation, Robert Fico offered the Ukraine representatives expertise and cooperation of cities and municipalities from the region of eastern Slovakia.
Authorities described the meeting of members of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments as highly constructive.
Photo: Slovak Embassy in BiH
