The Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador in Slovakia Alexei Fedotov on Thursday regarding the open letter the Russian Embassy in Slovakia published on a social network. The general manager of the ministry's political section, Marian Jakubocy, stated during the meeting that the co-operation between Slovakia and Russia was based on the principle of partnership, sovereignty and mutual respect, adding that Slovakia wanted to develop proper relations with Russia in this manner. However, he stressed that it was "unacceptable for an embassy to publicly comment and assess a representative of the host country, in this case the Defence Ministry state secretary." Regarding the diplomatic note via which the Russian Embassy reacted to Defence Ministry state secretary Robert Ondrejcsak (Most-Hid), Jakubocy stated that the presented stances and statements were not interpretations of the official positions of the Slovak Government. "In this context he added that the fact that the basic principles of international law were breached by annexing a part of Ukraine to Russia based on an illegitimate and illegal referendum in Crimea and Sevastopol is very disturbing from the viewpoint of the protection of Slovakia's security interests," stated the press team of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Jakubocy confirmed that Slovakia fully and thoroughly respects the principle of the unchangeability of borders and following international law and in this context it supports Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity within internationally accepted borders. At the end of the meeting, Jakubocy handed Fedotov an official diplomatic note from Slovak diplomacy regarding the matter.
