Foreign Policies

Fico: Thoughts on Enlarging V4 Only Proves Its Strength

Brussels, October 19 (TASR correspondent) – The fact that following the general election in Austria some voices are again being heard about joining the Visegrad Four (V4) group only confirms the strength of this platform and shows that the V4 is heading in the right direction, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) shortly after arriving at a European Council session in Brussels on Thursday.

The Slovak premier further denied the creation of a new V5 format, claiming that it wouldn’t be good to change the original well-functioning brand. However, he added that he can imagine setting up a V4+ format.

“When it comes to the V4 enlarging, we want to preserve the unique V4 format, but we’re ready to go for a V4+ format. We’ve already shown by the number of meetings that leaders of other states are ready to communicate with us,” said Fico at a press briefing in Brussels when asked about the possible accession of Austria to the V4.

The idea of Austria joining re-emerged after the general election held in the country on Sunday (October 15). Leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) Heinz-Christian Strache, whose party might joint the coalition with the winner of the election, called for Austria to join the V4 group as early as last year.

SPPK: If Farmers Aren't Taken Seriously, They Will Be Seen in Streets More Often

If farmers' demands are not taken seriously, they will be seen in the streets more often, Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber chairman Emil Macho told a news conference held in front of the Parliament's building on Thursday.

PM: Slovakia to Organise Repeated Mass Testing, Two Dozen Districts Exempt

Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) – Slovakia will organise a repeated mass testing for the coronavirus, but districts with positivity rates below 0.7 percent in the testing this past weekend will be exempt from the second round, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) announced after a meeting of the Central Crisis Management

Fico: Slovakia to Receive €1 bn of €10-bn Package of EU Funds for Floods

Slovakia will receive €1 billion of the €10-billion package from EU cohesion funds to deal with the consequences of the recent floods, Premier Robert Fico, who attended on Thursday a meeting of premiers and the European Commission on floods in Wroclaw, Poland, told a press conference on Friday.

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