Slovakia as V4 Chair Wants to Cooperate with Benelux

Bratislava, July 26 (TASR) - During Slovakia's ongoing presidency of the Visegrad Four (V4) group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) the country wants to open a dialogue on current European issues involving the economic dimension as well as developing cooperation in the V4+Benelux format, TASR learnt from the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday Slovak Foreign and European Affairs State Secretary Lukas Parizek at the ministry met Belgian Ambassador to Slovakia based in Vienna Willem Van de Voorde, as his tenure is about to come an end soon. Parizek thanked the ambassador for his contribution towards developing relations between Slovakia and Belgium and praised the cooperation between the two countries at the bilateral level. Parizek and Van de Voorde highlighted in particular the stable level of economic cooperation and the growth of Belgian investment in Slovakia, mainly in the automotive industry. "In addition to the bilateral level, Slovakia as V4 chair is also interested in organising a meeting in the V4+Benelux format aimed at deepening both interregional cooperation and a strategic dialogue on topical European issues," said Parizek, who went on to confirm Slovakia's interest in hosting Belgium's King Philippe on an official visit to the country. The one-year Slovak Presidency of the V4 group takes place between July 1 2018-June 30 2019. tz/df