President Is Going to Kiev, Wants Visit to Have Content

(STVR, 'O 5 minut 12', 15 June) I'm going to visit Kiev, President Peter Pellegrini said on STVR's discussion programme 'O 5 minut 12' (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, adding that he has already informed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he'll start preparing the visit. The head of state doesn't want it to be just a courtesy visit, but to have some positive content for both sides. Pellegrini pointed out that a developing Ukraine is a huge opportunity for the whole of eastern Slovakia in the long term. "I've recently met with President Zelenskyy at the summit in Vilnius ... and I've already expressed my position that we'll start preparing the visit and I've asked the Ukrainian side for some content, so that it isn't just a courtesy visit. So that we could find some positive content for both sides, so that we could send a positive signal," said the Slovak president, adding that it's necessary to look to the future after the end of the war, when Ukraine starts to reconstruct and develop. "This can benefit Slovakia, which is on the border with Ukraine, which is on the border of the European Union, and it can really be a huge boost for the elimination of regional differences within Slovakia," he added. With regard to foreign policy, he declared that Slovakia is a full member of the EU and NATO. "It expresses its opinion the way it wants, but nobody can punish Slovakia for that. But we're always on the side of our allies in fundamental decisions, and therefore Slovakia hasn't yet taken any fundamental step that should somehow throw us off the trajectory we are on," assured the president. am