"I appreciate the personal engagement and professional work of ambassadors Toomas Kukk and Gregor Kozonvic. Thanks to this, the mutual relations between our countries have been progressing to the point where none of us are afraid of discussing sensitive topics."

This was stated by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (MFEA SR) Martin Klus on Thursday, 7 July 2022, after having received the Ambassadors of the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Slovenia on the occasion of the upcoming end of their mission as ambassadors to the Slovak Republic.

With regards to the Ambassador of Slovenia to Slovakia Gregor Kozovinc, State Secretary Martin Klus appreciated the progress achieved in bilateral and regional cooperation. "I highlighted the excellent relations between our countries and appreciated Ambassador Kozovinc´s work before and during Slovenia´s Presidency in the Council of the EU during the second half of 2021, which was significantly complicated by the pandemic situation," stated Klus. During their discussion, the partners also touched upon the current situation in Ukraine and, in this regard, the State Secretary thanked the Slovenian side for its participation in the international NATO fight group in Slovakia.

The meeting of the State Secretary with the non-resident Ambassador of Estonia Toomas Kukk brought about a very positive appreciation of mutual bilateral relations. This is attested to, for instance, by successful political consultations between Martin Klus and his Estonian counterpart Märt Volmer last November. "Slovakia and Estonia are EU and NATO members. We share similar views on many key issues pertaining to the European and international agenda, which we can also see in the reaction to Russian aggression against Ukraine. We agreed that we must further continue to support Kyiv financially, militarily, as well as in a humanitarian way and, last but not least, politically. And we must also start with the restoration of Ukraine," said State Secretary Klus. As part of their talks the partners also delved into hybrid threats, in the fight against which Estonia is one of the leaders.