On Tuesday, President of Serbia Boris Tadic will come to Slovakia for a two-day official visit. In the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, he will hold talks with Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic, which are mainly expected to concern the need to develop bilateral cooperation in all areas common interest of Slovakia and Serbia. Both countries can benefit from closer contacts above all in political, economic, and cultural fields. Mainly the sectors of trade and investments provide a large room to deepen Slovak-Serbian cooperation. Mutual trade exchange in 2006 reached USD 188.4 million. Serbia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is for Slovakia one of the most decisive prerequisites for intensifying mutual trade exchange. Slovakia is ready to continue to support accession of Serbia into the WTO and cooperate with it at multilateral forums of which both the countries are members. Slovakia supports Serbia's ambitions for membership in the European Union (EU) and is willing to share with Serbia its practical experience related to its EU and NATO accession process. Furthermore, Slovakia realizes the stabilizing function of the accession process not only for Serbia but for the whole region.
The Slovak Republic provides aid to Serbia also through projects funded from the government fund of Slovakia's Official Development Assistance (ODA). After Serbia and Montenegro had split, it was decided that both the states will remain among priority countries of Slovakia's ODA. Since 2003 until now, Slovakia has allocated SKK 223 million for Serbia and Montenegro. ODA projects focus on the support for building infrastructure in regions, on its modernization and monitoring of natural elements. Projects on the integration of Serbia and Montenegro into the EU and building necessary capacities for negotiations with the EU also make up a significant volume of all projects. Within ODA, Slovakia supplied five bridge constructions to Serbia.
Countrymen associations in Vojvodina, which form the biggest compact ethnic Slovak community in the world, also play an important role in Slovak-Serbian bilateral relations. Both countries perceive the Slovak minority in Serbia as a factor of stability in relations between Bratislava and Belgrade. The rise of the Slovak Minority National Council in Novi Sad, which is the supreme representative body of the Slovak minority, was a significant event in the lives of Slovaks in Vojvodina. Chairwoman of the council is Anna Tomanova- Makanova, was elected in 2007 to the Serbian Parliament for the Democratic Party. Three other deputies of the Slovak minority are serving in the Serbian Parliament. The Slovak Republic is satisfied with the conditions which Serbian authorities created for Slovak minority in Vojvodina, presidential spokesman Marek Trubac reported.
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