Annual Report Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic 2008

The Western Balkans Remains a Priority
Visit of the Slovak Prime
Minister and the Defence
Minister to the Butmir
EUFOR base near Sarajevo,
June 2008
Slovak foreign policy considers the Western
Balkans, which includes Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Montenegro
(CG), Macedonia, and Serbia (including Kosovo),
a priority region. The integration of Western Balkan
countries into the EU and NATO is a means
of ensuring the stability, security, and general development
of the region. The Slovak Republic has
been involved in the region and in stabilizing it
on a long-term basis through the deployment of
its citizens in military and civil missions. In 2008,
Slovakia was represented in the Office of the High
Representative of the International Community
in BiH (OHR), the European Forces (EUFOR) and
the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) in
BiH as well as in the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the
newly formed European Union Rule of Law Mission
(EULEX) in Kosovo.
We were equally active in contributing to solving
the situation in the region in the diplomatic
field. Given our very recent accession to the European
and transatlantic structures, Slovakia
was able to share this experience with individual
countries in the region. We also quite extensively
used the resources of Slovakia’s Official Development
Assistance (ODA) to this end. Slovakia supported,
via its ODA mechanism, projects dealing
with the integration of Western Balkan countries
into international groupings and organizations,
encouraged the development of civil society, and
assisted in the reconstruction and development
of core infrastructure.
In the Interests of
European Integration
Slovakia’s role in the successful signing of the
Stabilization and Association Agreement in 2008
between the EU on one hand and Serbia and BiH
on the other cannot be omitted. The signing of
the agreement (despite the fact that Serbia had
yet to fully implement the agreement in 2008)
will enable further specification of the European
perspective for the countries concerned, particularly
given the opportunity to progress towards
EU membership.
Slovakia also supported the efforts of the Western
Balkan countries in liberalizing their visa regimes
with EU Member States. We have been encouraging
the countries of this region to fulfil the
necessary criteria so that broad reciprocal contact
with EU Member States can be simplified as
soon as possible. The fact that Slovakia has been
able to increase the volume of mutual trade and
economic cooperation with most of the countries
of the Western Balkans year on year is positive. In
2008, this was also an important aspect of transferring
our intensive political dialogue to the economic
platform.
Igor Slobodník,
Head of the Political
Affairs Directorate
General, MFA
We are Bound by
Past and Present
Why is the Western Balkan region one of the priorities
of Slovak foreign policy?
There are significant historical, cultural, political
and economic, as well as, personal bonds between
this region, its individual countries and Slovakia. We
must, however, also be interested in the region due
to its considerable influence on the security situation
in Central Europe, amongst other things. Slovakia has
developed an intensive dialogue with the Western
Balkan countries. It has accumulated significant expertise,
valued by our allies and partners. Slovakia is
involved, through the participation of its representatives,
in maintaining stability and ensuring regional security
in practically all its currently functioning forms
including the military and civil missions. At the same
time, we belong to those countries which systematically
– through political and practical steps – support
the idea of enlarging the European and Euro-Atlantic
structures to include the countries of this region.
Kosovo remains the main security challenge of the
Western Balkans. Will Slovakia as a member of the
‘western’ community of countries maintain its position
on the issue of Kosovo’s independence?
While at the beginning of 2008, NATO declared that
it would treat the agenda of Kosovo as ‘status-neu-
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