The Diplomat
The State Secretary for the European Union, Juan González-Barba, made a working visit to Slovakia yesterday to resume bilateral dialogue with that country and to visit the Visegrad Fund.
During his stay in Bratislava, González-Barba was received by the Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, with whom, according to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he noted the good state of bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of culture, education and trade relations. They also discussed the EU’s role in the world, especially in its relations with the United States, the note said.
González-Barba also held bilateral consultations with the State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs, Martin Klus, with whom he reviewed issues on the European agenda such as the coordinated response to COVID and the Digital Green Certificate, climate, digitalisation, migration, enlargement, Mercosur and EU-Russia relations.
The visit to Bratislava also allowed the State Secretary to meet with members of the Slovak Rada, members of the European Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committees, and to hold a meeting with representatives of relevant think-tanks in the country.
Finally, González-Barba visited the Visegrad Fund, where he was received by its executive director, Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi.
The Fund, created in 2000, promotes regional cooperation both in the region of the four Visegrad countries and in the Western Balkans and countries of the Eastern Partnership of the EU, with an outstanding programme of scholarships, studies and artistic residencies, constituting the real visible face of Visegrad at the level of society. This visit to the Fund’s headquarters follows the first meeting in the V4+Spain format, held by the s
This visit to CEAPI headquarters follows the first meeting in the V4+Spain format held by the Spanish Secretary of State for the EU with his Visegrad counterparts at the end of last year.
