Heads of Russia and Slovakia meet

25.08.2016
Slovakia

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The leaders will discuss prospects of trade, economic, and political cooperation. The meeting with the Slovak leader is of significant importance for Russia seeing as how Slovakia will chair the EU Council from June 2016, and thus define the union’s priority issues for the subsequent 6 months.

Points of contact

Slovakia is one of Russia's closest partners among Eastern European countries. Under Prime Minister Fico, the ruling SMER party has pursued an independent policy in the EU and NATO. In particular, Slovakia is opposed to the stationing of NATO bases on its territory and opposes EU plans to introduce quotas for settling migrants in all EU countries. Robert Fico was in favor of lifting sanctions against Russia.

Contradictions

However, for economic reasons, Slovakia opposes the construction of the "Nord Stream-2” pipeline. The implementation of the project would not only bypass Ukraine, but also Slovakia, thus lowering the country’s status and tax revenues. Slovakia also continues to cooperate with NATO, whose command center has been located in the country since 2015.

Related links
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Eastern Europe: Civilizational Specialty and Modern Geopolitical Situation
Central Europe Discourse and Its Political Function
Europe: trends and forecasts for 2016
Europe
Slovakia
Robert Fico
Vladimir Putin