Estok Holds Talks on Deepening Finnish-Slovak Political Dialogue in Helsinki

Helsinki/Bratislava, 17 June (TASR) - Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Marek Estok held talks with Finnish European Affairs Minister Joakim Strand and the Finnish Premier's advisor for European Union Issues Tuomas Tikkanen in Helsinki on Monday (16 June), TASR has learnt from the Foreign Affairs Ministry's communications department. The deepening of the Slovak-Finnish political dialogue, the basic framework of which is EU and NATO membership, was high on the agenda of the Slovak-Finnish political dialogue. "We want to jointly strengthen contacts at both political and expert levels. Mutual dialogue is the path to deeper understanding between EU- and NATO-member states. Understanding and respecting national specifics will help us to find common solutions that will make us stronger," said Estok, adding that the two sides discussed several current European issues in Helsinki, such as energy, competitiveness, the future EU budget, migration, European security, EU enlargement and developments in Ukraine. Estok confirmed Slovakia's position in the field of energy, according to which it is crucial that the European REPowerEU initiative doesn't threaten the energy security of Slovakia. He also highlighted cooperation in strengthening the EU single market led by Finland, within which Slovakia is part of a group of 17 EU-member states. Estok noted that Finnish investments are already active in Slovakia today, and that Slovakia is successfully cooperating with Finnish company Patria in the production of armoured combat vehicles for the Slovak army. According to the state secretary, cooperation in cultural diplomacy is also being prepared for next year, as the cities of Trencin and Finland's Oulu will be the European Capitals of Culture in 2026. ko/df