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Gasparovic to Visit Serbia this Week, Also to Greet Slovaks in Vojvodina
Monday 30 November 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - President Ivan Gasparovic is to begin a three-day visit to Serbia on Wednesday – accompanied by Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek and a group of Slovak entrepreneurs, Sona Zanova from the President's Office told TASR on Monday.
Gasparovic is to meet his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. He will also attend the opening of an entrepreneurial forum at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and will visit Serbia's National Assembly.
The Slovak president will also go to the autonomous province of Vojvodina and its capital city Novi Sad to greet local Slovaks. More than 60,000 ethnic Slovaks live in Vojvodina, which represents the largest compact community of ethnic Slovaks in the world outside of Slovakia. The Slovaks – most of them Protestants – emigrated to this fertile area in the 18th century after the Turks had been driven out.
This will be Gasparovic's second visit to Serbia this year, as he visited the country during the 16th summit of Central European presidents in June.
Gasparovic's office told TASR that Slovakia fully backs Serbia's endeavours to join the European Union as soon as possible, and is ready to help the Balkan country with its experience from its EU integration process.
The mutual trade exchange between Slovakia and Serbia increased almost 20-fold in the past ten years - from $32.9 million in 1999 to more than $612 million in 2008.
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