WARSAW, July 23, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova is visiting Poland on Friday. She feels at home in Poland because her mother was Polish, Ms. Radicova told journalists after her talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Prime Minister Tusk appreciated that the new Slovak Prime Minister visited Poland as one of the first countries since she was appointed to office. “For all the people of Poland and for me, it is a great satisfaction that the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic acknowledged Warsaw as a respectable destination for one of her first foreign visits after elections in Slovakia,” he said. He also pointed out that they had met already this week in Budapest at the meeting of the Visegrad Group representatives. “Both Slovakia and Poland are gaining on importance in the EU, thanks to the fact that we have tried to function very responsibly in a whole range of European issues,“ said Mr. Tusk. In his view, they share the same opinion on a solution of the crisis. “During her first days in office, Madam Prime Minister has gained an assessment all over Europe that she is a resolute and tough politician,” he said and pointed out the excellent relations between Poland and Slovakia.
Prime Minister Radicova expressed her condolences to citizens of Poland in connection with the recent tragedies — the death of their president and the catastrophic floods. She spoke of the floods as a common tragedy of Poland and Slovakia. “But life is not just about overcoming sadness and tragedies, but also about the present time and the future. We should learn also from these situations and be wiser in the future,” she said.
Ms. Radicova added that both neighboring countries can help each other in the region of central Europe not just with fighting the consequences of the economic crisis but also with restarting economic growth and creating new jobs. “I appreciate the investments of the Republic of Poland into a new natural gas terminal, because it is a way how the issue of energy security moves from words to deeds. It is about concrete investments into concrete projects,” she said and added that the prepared program statement of her government for the next four years will include ways to improve energy security in this region, including a new north-south interconnection.
In her view, cooperation is also significant in stabilization of the EU and the eurozone. “We perceive responsibility identically – consolidating public finances, ending further growth of debts, accumulating resources for economic growth, and supporting regional development by projects of cohesion and common drawing from EU structural funds. I hope this path will be successful,“ she said.
SITA