Albares visits Slovakia at a time of strengthening bilateral relations

• The Minister participated in the Slovak Ambassadors' Conference as a guest of honour.

• Albares has been invited by his Slovak counterpart to participate in the upcoming V4+ meeting in Bratislava

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, travelled to Slovakia this Monday to participate in the Ambassadors' Conference. Furthermore, the Minister held a bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Juraj Blanár, with whom he subsequently made an institutional statement to the media.

During their meeting, Albares and his counterpart highlighted the strong relationship between the two countries and reviewed both bilateral issues and the wider international agenda. Albares noted that Spain and Slovakia enjoy a solid and complementary partnership across a range of areas, including the defence industry, European affairs, and academic and scientific cooperation. Economic ties are also strong, particularly in the rail industry, while Slovak tourism to Spain has doubled over the past two years.

Minister Albares also thanked his Slovak counterpart for the invitation to participate in the forthcoming V4+ meeting in Bratislava.

At the European level, Albares stressed the need for the European Union to guarantee its own security, emphasising the importance of a strong Europe capable of addressing any threat and safeguarding European values.

The ministers also discussed other items on the international agenda, including the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the importance of respecting international law.

Albares also participated in the Slovak Ambassadors' Conference as the guest of honour. This year's edition was held under the theme A global and humanistic foreign policy.

During his address at the conference, which has established itself as the principal strategic forum for Slovak diplomacy, Albares recalled the importance of Europe choosing democracy, human rights, dialogue and peace in the face of a complex and interconnected world.

Following his participation in the Ambassadors' Conference, Minister Albares travelled to Lest with the Slovak State Secretary, Marek Estok. Lest is home to Spain's largest military deployment outside the country, with almost 900 Spanish Army personnel serving as part of NATO's Multinational Brigade battle group on the Alliance's eastern flank.

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