Help for Ukraine must become part of Slovakia‘s foreign policy

"The future of Ukraine is to some extent, our future. Aid to Ukraine should become a permanent part of Slovak foreign policy. Slovakia should help Ukraine, as much as it has done with the countries of the Western Balkans. We see Russia's efforts to undermine the unity of European Union (EU)", said Slovak President Andrej Kiska at a conference that evaluates this country's foreign policy in the year 2014. It is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovak Foreign Policy Association. He added that "It is in Slovakia's best interest to maintain the unity of the EU. It is in Slovakia's interest to expand the area of ​​democracy and stability to its neighbourhood". Kiska has taken it for granted that Slovakia will fulfil the commitments given at last year's NATO summit. These include a commitment to halt the decline of the defence budget and gradually increase it to 1.6% of GDP in 2020. Today, Slovakia's defence budget is about one percent of GDP. Overall, the president evaluated Slovakia's foreign policy as successful and correct and praised the cooperation with Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák.