Demes: Visiting White House Is Important Both for Country and Politician

Bratislava, April 25 (TASR) - Visiting the White House is an extremely important thing for a country, but also for the politician that goes there, TASR was told by former Slovak foreign minister Pavol Demes in connection with Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini's (Smer-SD) visit to the USA, during which he'll be received at the White House by US President Donald Trump on Friday, May 3. "To get to the White House is very complicated and requires a lot of diplomatic and political effort," said Demes, noting that it won't be a courtesy trip. "I think it will be a reception at the White House that will have a very thoroughly prepared agenda," said Demes. According to him, the content of the meeting and its course will be "very carefully consulted between the foreign ministries of the two countries". According to the prime minister's spokesperson Patricia Macikova, the partners will discuss a broad slew of issues with an emphasis on economic and defence cooperation. In the context of defence cooperation, the US president and Slovak prime minister will touch on the modernisation of the Slovak Armed Forces and boosting Slovak defence expenditures in line with commitments stemming from Slovakia's NATO membership. am/df