President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, as part of her official visit to Slovakia, met in Bratislava with the Vice-President of the Slovak Government and Minister of Defense, Robert Kalinjak.
At the meeting, Kalinjak confirmed Slovakia’s strong support for the European integration of Macedonia, assessing that the country has been in the waiting room of the European Union for an unjustified long time. According to him, the enlargement process should be based exclusively on the fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria.
The Slovak Vice Prime Minister also shared his positive experience of cooperation with Macedonian institutions, while expressing readiness for further deepening of bilateral cooperation, especially in the field of defense.
President Siljanovska-Davkova expressed her gratitude for Slovakia’s principled stance regarding EU expansion and again pointed out, as she said, the irrationality of identity-based conditions that burden the Macedonian European integration process.
The two interlocutors agreed that bilateral issues should not be part of the negotiations for membership in the European Union.
On the eve of the upcoming NATO Summit, they also discussed the current security situation in Europe, assessing that strengthening the partnership within the Alliance remains key to regional stability and European security.
