On Thursday Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic, for a one-day visit. She first met with the Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini. Alongside bilateral relations and economic cooperation between Germany and Slovakia, they discussed foreign-policy and European issues.

Establishing EU Authority in Slovakia

After their meeting, the Chancellor assured her Slovak counterpart of her support in his efforts to attract the new European Labour Authority to Bratislava.

Angela Merkel and Peter Pellegrini commented on the negotiations on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. The Chancellor expressed her conviction that solutions can be found without reopening the withdrawal agreement. Renegotiating the agreement "is not on the agenda as far as we are concerned". The goal is still to achieve an orderly Brexit, but the EU must ensure the integrity of the Single Market and protect Ireland, which is a member state, stressed Angela Merkel.

Meeting with the V4

Over lunch, following the meeting, the Chancellor met with the four leaders of the Visegrad Group – the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, and the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The Visegrad Group, also known as the V4 (Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Hungary) does not have any formal institutionalised structure. Their goal is to ensure regular information sharing and to coordinate their political positions. In 2016 Chancellor Angela Merkel was also invited to attend a V4 meeting in Warsaw. As a general rule, the Group meets twice a year.

At a subsequent press conference Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the V4 states, which she described as important trading partners for Germany. "Germany benefits from our cooperation. I would like to make that quite clear." Together, she said, they would work "to achieve a good balance between jobs and environmental protection, so that we continue to be a genuinely important place for mobility in the world, in future". She added that the Federal Republic of Germany and the Visegrad Group affirm their commitment to "free trade and to trade agreements with other parts of the world".

Migration and refugee policy was also on the agenda. To address the root causes of displacement and migration, a development project is planned with Morocco, announced Angela Merkel. The aim is "to signal the fact that we are cooperating to address the root causes of displacement".

In a joint statement the V4 and Germany praised what has been achieved to date in multilateral cooperation, and reaffirmed their commitment to further stepping up their relations -  for a stronger, safer, closer, prosperous and successful Europe.

Slovak Order for Angela Merkel

At the close of her trip, Angela Merkel met with the Slovak President Andrej Kiska. He praised the work of the Chancellor "within the framework of the bilateral relations between our two countries" and "as one of the 'leaders' in Europe" and in recognition of this, awarded her the Order of the White Double Cross (First Class), which is held to be the "highest state decoration of the Republic of Slovakia".

The Chancellor’s trip to Slovakia took place against the backdrop of the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The political transformation in the countries of the Visegrad Group went a long way to making possible German reunification, on 3 October 1990.