BRATISLAVA
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico formally welcomed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Bratislava on Wednesday.
Slovakia is the last stop of Erdogan's three-nation eastern European tour.
Following the welcoming ceremony, the two premiers held a bilateral meeting, and chaired meetings between Turkish and Slovakian delegations.
Erdogan and Fico will hold a joint press conference.
Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bagis, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Energy & Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu and several other executives are accompanying Erdogan.
Turkish PM receives Slovakian speaker of parliament
Erdogan on Wednesday held a meeting with Slovakian Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paska in Bratislava.
The meeting between Erdogan and Paska lasted half an hour.
Turkish premier hints visa exemption for Slovak nationals
Erdogan on Wednesday said Turkey would move to lift visa requirement for Slovak nationals, adding that his country expected Slovakia to do same for Turkish nationals who would visit the eastern European country to provide services.
"We will take the step for visa exemption as soon as I return home and I believe Slovakia's lifting visa requirement for our businesspeople, scholars, students, artists and sportspeople would move our relations to a higher level," Erdogan told a joint press conference with his Slovakian counterpart Robert Fico in capital Bratislava, the last stop of the Turkish premier's three-nation Eastern European tour.
Erdogan said Turkey and Slovakia had a bilateral trade volume of over $1.5 billion, adding that energy could be a major field for cooperation between the two countries and that Turkey had recently passed a new incentive package for investors.
The Turkish premier also thanked for Slovkia's support for Turkey's European Union membership accession process.
Responding to a question whether Turkey would ever consider withdrawing its EU membership bid, Erdogan said, "it has been 50 years and we are still at the door [...] But nevertheless we carry on with patience and we are committed to carry on but for how long is a topic of another discussion. And of course at some point we may put an end to it."
Turkey needs new propellant power for EU accession negotiations
Fico has said, "There is a need for new propellant power directed at Turkey's EU accession negotiations. We will keep standing behind the idea of fulfilling all the criteria for EU accession to become an EU member state. If this principle does not apply anymore, then Europe needs to explain that."
Speaking at a joint press conference following his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Fico said that they discussed what topics would help develop the economic relations of both countries.
There were capabilities and potentials in the scope of improving trade relations between Turkey and Slovakia, said Fico. "In the scale of Turkish legislations and Schengen regulations, we came to terms of great efforts in visa topic," he said.
"We stated that we are interested in set up of the transit lines of natural gas transmission between two countries. We have three project offers in the fields of science and research. One of them is a research project in production of nuclear energy. We also have research and application project offers in maintaining security in lines of petrol and natural gas. Another projects is, set up of a science and research centre, based in Istanbul," expressed Fico.
Fico made clear that they see Turkey's determination and desire to become an EU member state and highlighted, "Turkey needs a new propellent power directed its EU accession process negotiations. We believe that the EU needs to enlarge. We will keep standing behind the idea of fulfilling all the criteria for EU accession to become an EU member state."
