Ties between Slovakia and the Czech Republic are unique because the two countries share a joint history. This according to the chief of Slovak diplomacy Ivan Korcok (SaS nominee) after meeting his newly-appointed Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky on Monday. It is the usual tradition for officials of both countries first to pay a foreign visit to the Slovak or Czech capital. “The Czech Republic is our closest neighbour, we're connected together by the shared history that makes our mutual ties unique. The talks today confirmed our determination to cultivate and develop our relations,” Korcok underlined after the meeting. “Good ties are rooted in interpersonal relationships. It's a special phenomenon unseen in many other areas. It's something the rest of the world can only envy us,” added Lipavsky.
After their meeting, Korcok stated that the EU and NATO are ready for a dialogue with Russia. "We can envision a dialogue with Russia on security within the OSCE, then in the NATO Council–Russia format, and we're interested also in the strategic USA–Russia dialogue," claimed Korcok. The new Czech Foreign Affairs Minister underlined that both the EU and NATO must preserve unity in its dealings with Russia. According to the Slovak Foreign Minister, current ties between Russia and the West are not good. “That means that the EU, like NATO, has signalled to the Russian Federation what's important at the moment. It's not acceptable to use the threat of force in international relations that would impact sovereignty and even the mere existence of a European state – in this case, Ukraine," claimed Korcok. Lipavsky conceded that current Czech–Russian bilateral ties are at a "very low level" and he will attempt to explore the possibilities to "have them restarted".
Also discussed at their meeting was the regional cooperation in the Austerlitz Format (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia) and the upcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Source: TASR
