Press remarks by President António Costa following the meeting with Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico 14:05 Press remarks by President António Costa following the meeting[...]

Dear Prime Minister, dear Robert, first of all, thank you very much for your warm welcome and frank discussion. These meetings are very important for me. First of all, because it's important to keep European institutions close to the European citizens. Secondly, because it's very important to engage directly with all the leaders. Because in the European Council, all the voices count. All the leaders have the same role in the Council, and we need to listen to all of them. Only by listening to each other, we can build unity coming from different points of view.

I'm here less than a week after our meeting at the border with Ukraine. I was on my way back from Ukraine, exactly on the same day you also met President Zelenskyy. And I was pleased to hear that, "relations between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine are destined for a better and stronger character". I warmly welcome this new atmosphere in the relations between Slovakia and Ukraine, based on good neighbourly relations, an urgent ceasefire, a fair and just peace, and a European perspective for Ukraine.

Dear Robert, I know how much you value peace, and the European Union is precisely a project of peace and prosperity. On this important topic, I want to commend your personal engagement, your loyal cooperation and your personal commitment to contribute to a unity and compromises between different opinions.

We learnt painfully that peace without defence is an illusion and that's why we need now to invest more in our own defence. And the Russian invasion of Ukraine has a huge impact beyond Ukraine, namely on our economic security. The security of our energy supply to Slovakia is a priority for the European Union. This is a very good example of how security and competitiveness go hand in hand, especially in such an industrialized country like Slovakia, a pillar of the car industry not only in Europe, but at the world level. In fact, our strategy to diversify suppliers and develop clean, homegrown energy makes full sense geopolitically and economically.

Today, we also discussed the need of having a European long-term budget fit for purpose. We have an ambitious agenda with clear political priorities in place. Now, we need a European long-term budget that will match this agenda, our ambitions. We need to work with determination to secure an agreement on a budget which allows us to deliver on our shared priorities, namely defence and in competitiveness. This is how we will ensure Europe's strength and future prosperity.

Dear Robert, thank you very much once again for your hospitality, for your open talks and your European spirit.