BRATISLAVA, May 28, (WEBNOVINY)- Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic pointed at differing situations in various countries of the Arab world in a discussion during the Friday’s official lunch at the summit of CEE presidents in Warsaw. At the lunch, the attending presidents met with US President Barack Obama. During an informal discussion with him, European heads of state exchanged opinions on the utilization of transformation experiences of central European and some Arab countries and also tackled current global issues, informed the Slovak President’s Office.
“If we want to demonstrate solidarity with the countries of North Africa and Middle East, let’s support economic cooperation and cancel customs and trade barriers,” said the Slovak president at the lunch. Gasparovic devoted detailed attention to the identification of effective assistance to the countries of North Africa and the Middle East also in his address at the plenary session of the 17th CEE presidential summit.
Gasparovic deems negotiations at the presidential meeting very rational and open. He said that current problems of Central European countries and the globalized world were high on the agenda. The participants also discussed the situation of countries of the African continent, which currently cope with problems and how to show solidarity with them. Solidarity in form of financial assistance often turns against its donators, thinks Gasparovic, adding that African countries get huge funds in aid and sometimes we do not know where they flow, said the Slovak president. He therefore supports a change in the attitude to solidarity. “Let’s try help these state by enabling the barrier-free trading, in order to export goods to our countries and remove some customs and tax obstacles. It is much more rational,” said the president.
Over twenty presidents discussed their common topic of Roads to Democracy: Common Experience with Democratic Transformation at the two-day summit. For the first time in history, U.S. President Barack Obama have joined the summit and had a lunch with CEE heads of state. This time, Kosovo and the three Baltic states have been invited to the summit for the first time. Gasparovic only agreed to participate at the summit after the Polish party accepted Slovak propositions on resolving the political and protocol issues in organizing the event: if the symbols of Kosovo would not be placed at the negotiating table. Serbian President Boris Tadic as well as his Romanian colleague Traian Basescu decided to boycott the event in protest of participation of Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski whose country recognizes Kosovo, declared that he had no reason not to invite Jahjaga.
During the summit, Gasparovic met with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nebojsa Radmanovic. They devoted attention to the country’s EU accession, which has been complicated by the long-term conflict between Skopje and Athens. „The Slovak Republic fully supports the European Union expansion,“ confirmed Gasparovic.
SITA