China: Blanar Discusses Closer Cooperation and Peace Initiatives

Beijing/Bratislava, November 1 (TASR) - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) met in Bejing with his Chinese counterpart Wang I on Friday to discuss mutual ties, elevated to the 'strategic partnership' level following the meeting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier in the day, TASR learnt from the Foreign Affairs Ministry's press department on the same day. China is the second largest economy in the world and the most important trade partner for Slovakia in Asia, underlined Blanar, pointing out that the mutual trade reached €10.5 billion last year. "Prime Minister Robert Fico is accompanied on his visit to China by the largest delegation in history, made up of nine government ministers and eighty businesses, which clearly demonstrates our intent to firm up our partnership. This is indicated also by 13 agreements and memorandums on mutual cooperation, signed today between Slovakia and China in the spheres of economy, transport, tourism, environment and culture," stated Blanar. The ministers also discussed ways how Slovakia as an EU member could lend support to initiatives aimed at strengthening economic and investment cooperation. According to Blanar, Slovakia demonstrated its principled stance during the vote on the EU's increased tariffs on imports of Chinese electric cars. "Five states, including Slovakia, voted against this decision, which might have negative impacts on our economy," he accentuated. In addition, Blanar and Wang I touched on the Chinese-Brazilian six-point peace plan for the war in Ukraine. "I presented to the minister Slovakia's stance, which promotes sovereign foreign policy and peace policy in particular based on the compliance with international law, mutual respect, confidence and esteem between countries. We've been warning for a long time that the conflict in Ukraine has no military solution and we find it crucial to support all peace activities, including the upcoming second peace summit," said Blanar, according to whom an important role in the negotiations on the summit is played by countries of the global south. mf/mcs