Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanár (right) had talks with Vietnamese Ambassador to Slovakia Phạm Trường Giang on May 13 in Bratislava. — VNA/VNS Photo

BRATISLAVA — Slovakia regards Việt Nam as a top important partner in Asia, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanár told Vietnamese Ambassador to Slovakia Phạm Trường Giang.

At their May 13 meeting at the headquarters of the Slovakia's foreign ministry in Bratislava, Giang also affirmed that Việt Nam attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Slovakia.

The diplomat expressed his belief that the bilateral relationship has much potential for further development in the coming time.

The ambassador said he was delighted to see that Slovakia officially recognised the Vietnamese community as the 14th ethnic minority community in the country in 2023 with core members being former students, interns, researchers, and workers in former Czechoslovakia, part of which is now Slovakia.

He hoped that Slovakia will continue to create favourable conditions for the community to integrate, develop stably, and make positive contributions to the socio-economic development of Slovakia while acting as a sustainable bridge to promote the friendship between the two countries.

For his part, the Slovak minister lauded Việt Nam's outstanding socio-economic achievements, its important role in ASEAN, and its growing international reputation globally.

Việt Nam and Slovakia have potential for expanding cooperation in many fields such as economy, tourism, nuclear energy, and defence industry, he said.

The official expressed his hope that Việt Nam will consider upgrading bilateral relations to a strategic partnership and applying visa exemption for Slovak citizens.

He proposed that the two sides soon resume meetings of the intergovernmental committee to effectively tap their cooperation potential.

The two sides agreed to maintain coordination in organising practical commemorative activities in 2025, promote delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones to enhance political trust, expand and promote the signing of cooperation agreements in areas of mutual interest, and study ways to simplify procedures for legalising documents and exempting visas.

On this occasion, Blanár thanked Việt Nam for supporting Slovakia's candidates to the United Nations Security Council, expressing his wish for mutual support for each other's candidates to other important international mechanisms such as the Human Rights Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Board of Directors. — VNA/VNS