BRATISLAVA/KARLOVY VARY, November 6, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak and Polish Presidents Ivan Gasparovic and Bronislaw Komorowski met for bilateral talks on the second day of the Visegrad Group summit in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic on Saturday. The heads of state described relations between both countries as very close and friendly. According to President Gasparovic, the good relations are documented by close cross-border cooperation in the Tatra and Orava regions with its northern neighbors. „However, these regions deserve better road and highway links, and we have still not managed to achieve this,“ said Ivan Gasparovic. According to the president, completing road infrastructure between the Slovak Republic and Poland should become a priority for future relations.
President Komorowski expressed his belief that he would be able to establish as good contacts with Ivan Gasparovic as his predecessor, Lech Kaczynski, who died tragically in a plane crash in Russia this spring. „Poland and Slovakia deserve a special relationship,“ said Komorowski. The transport north-south link is a priority for the Polish side.
The two presidents in Karlovy Vary also discussed the continuation of the modernization project of the railway linking both countries. They also touched upon the future of Ukraine and its relations with the EU and NATO. They agreed that the transit of Russian natural gas and crude oil across Ukraine in the future may approach European standards.
The Polish president spoke about the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon, which could discuss the future of European security policy. Slovak and Polish presidents agree on the possibility to create a joint Polish-Slovak-Czech regiment, which in future would be able to serve within NATO structures.
Slovak president invited his Polish partner on an official visit to Slovakia, which could take place before the end of this year.
The regular annual meeting of the presidents of four Central European group V4 started on Friday November 5, in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. Attending the summit are Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Ivan Gasparovic of Slovak Republic, Pal Schmitt of Hungary and Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland.
SITA