Milanović met with the Slovak president

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović is on an official visit to Slovakia. Last night he met with representatives of Croats in Bratislava, and bilateral meetings at the highest level were scheduled for today. This morning he met with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini.

Relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic are stable, friendly and without open questions, and contacts at the highest level testify to this.

President Zoran Milanović spoke with his Slovakian colleague Peter Pellegrini mainly about defense and security, but there were also issues related to the strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Trade between the two countries in 2024 amounted to about one and a half billion euros.

On the table were topics related to the expansion of the European Union, but also related to geopolitical events with a focus on the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“Our relations on a personal and institutional level are very good, constant and frequent. They are not limited to the period in which we visit each other. Slovakia is, and I want to emphasize this here, one of the countries whose political leadership belongs to those who, if I say that they think for themselves and have a firm position on some issues, then I do not want to offend or underestimate some others in Europe. But Slovakia and its leaders stand out in this regard,” said President Zoran Milanović.

“We discussed current issues, the situation in Ukraine, the state of negotiations between the USA, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. We discussed what this week's European Council talks will look like. Individual prime ministers or presidents of individual countries will present their positions. We will follow that closely,” said Peter Pellegrini.

They also commented on the peace talks in Berlin.

“This conflict is essentially an exclusively American-Russian proxy war on the territory of Ukraine, and some English politicians, London politicians, played a dirty role in this. They are among those most responsible for why this conflict ultimately developed in this way. How and under what conditions this conflict will end will not be decided by Berlin, London or Paris, but by Moscow and Washington. Unfortunately, this is coming true. And what we have been seeing in Europe for the last 24 hours is a farce, it is not real,” said Milanović.

“Slovakia has always had a pragmatic approach to this. I agree with President Milanović that none of us today has the right to say that something is black or white, fight or surrender. This must be a sovereign decision of the state that was attacked, and this means that these negotiations must be with Ukraine, a definitive decision on Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine. On the other hand, I will say right away, very openly, that the result, as certain terms of compromise are being worked out, will be very close to the position of Slovakia that it has presented in the last two years,” said Pellegrini.

Source: HRT