Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanár held talks in France on Tuesday with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot and subsequently with French President Emmanuel Macron’s adviser on European affairs Alexis Duterte. Blanár emphasized that Slovakia and France have been strategic partners since 2008, when Prime Minister Robert Fico signed the agreement on behalf of Slovakia. TASR was informed about this by the communication department of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFA) of the Slovak Republic.
- Minister Blanár negotiated with French representatives about cooperation.
- Slovakia and France have been strategic partners since 2008.
- Discussions included economic and foreign policy issues.
- They covered energy, the automotive industry and European topics.
“This strategic partnership is fulfilled through so-called five-year action plans, in which we evaluate various areas of cooperation at the national, regional and municipal levels. I appreciate our open discussion with my ministerial colleague, during which we exchanged experiences from many policies,” said Blanár.
An important business partnership and the automotive industry
As the communication department of the Slovak Ministry informs, France is one of the most important trade partners of the Slovak Republic within the European Union, with an annual turnover of foreign trade at the level of 7.8 billion euros. The head of Slovak diplomacy stated that both countries have to deal with several challenges, including in the automotive industry.
“One of the French investments in Slovakia is also the car manufacturing company Stellantis in Trnava, which faces the same problems as other car companies. That is why Slovakia also opens up these topics at the level of the European Union and we try to defend their interests at the same time,” said the Slovak minister.
Nuclear energy
According to Blanár, Slovakia is the second largest producer of electricity from nuclear power plants after France. He claims that in this area Slovakia and France can share knowledge, build on the beneficial cooperation from the past and develop it further. According to him, this applies in the economic and investment area, as well as in activities within the EU and the North Atlantic Alliance, but also in education.
At the meeting, the ministers also addressed other foreign policy issues, such as energy, the declining competitiveness of the EU and the new European budget.
Regional security
In Paris, Blanár also met with French President Emmanuel Macron’s adviser on European affairs, Alexis Duterte. They discussed European topics, the war in Ukraine, including US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative, energy, transatlantic relations, as well as defense and security, concluded the communications department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
