On Sunday, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Abdullah bin Zayed Ál Nahján at the Slovak Government Office. The topic of the meeting was mainly the current situation in the Middle East and help for Slovak citizens who are also in the Emirates. At the same time he informed that on Tuesday (March 10), the first Slovak flight from Bratislava to Dubai should take place, which is organized by the ministries of defense, foreign affairs and the interior. TASR was informed about this by the press and information department of the Government Office (ÚV) of the Slovak Republic.
- Robert Fico held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Emirates in Bratislava.
- The main topic of the meeting was the situation in the Middle East and the evacuation of Slovaks.
At the meeting, Fico thanked the country for its help so far in organizing the evacuation of Slovaks from the region. “I welcomed the openness of the United Arab Emirates in ensuring the evacuation of Slovak citizens using United Arab Emirates planes with the possibility of direct flights between Bratislava and Dubai,” said the Prime Minister and expressed full solidarity with the Emirates for repeated missile attacks from Iran. During the meeting, he also addressed an invitation for an official visit to Slovakia to the President of the UAE Muhammad bin Zájid Ál Nahján.
As specified by the government office, the negotiations also covered bilateral cooperation and investment projects. The Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed special interest in cooperation in nuclear energy. “The Prime Minister appreciated the activities of the Emirates in the region, which are an important stabilizing factor, and also promised cooperation of the Slovak Republic in the negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement between the European Union and the countries of the Persian Gulf – the Council for Cooperation in the Persian Gulf,” he added.
The meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE was also attended by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanár, the Minister of Defense Robert Kaliňák (both Smer-SD) and the State Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs Marek Eštok. Blanár added that active communication is currently taking place between the countries, where they are looking for concrete options to increase evacuation capacities, for example through the use of large-capacity UAE aircraft. “We stay in touch to resolve the details of how to solve the evacuation together in order to ensure the safe return of Slovak citizens to Slovakia as soon as possible,” he pointed out.
The Prime Minister reminded that the 13th and 14th repatriation flights will arrive on Sunday, which have so far evacuated Slovak citizens from Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
