Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission's agreements to help break deadlock in bilateral relations in several areas - education minister

MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) - The Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission has reached agreements that would help break the deadlock in bilateral relations in a number of areas, and outlined steps to intensify the work of working groups and broaden business contacts, Russian Education and Science Minister Valery Falkov said on Monday.

"We have managed to intensify our work after a five-year break. [...] We have agreed to intensify the activities of our working groups, resume cultural exchanges and deepen Russian-Slovak business cooperation," Falkov told journalists after a plenary session of the joint intergovernmental commission for economic, scientific and technical cooperation, co-chaired by him and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.

The two sides discussed potential cooperation in "promising areas," primarily energy, agriculture, environmental protection, culture, sports and tourism, he said.

"We are ready to gradually restore our cooperation, we see the same interest from our Slovak colleagues. I am sure implementing today's agreements would enable us to intensify and deepen interaction in a number of key areas and lift, and in some cases, shift our relations from the dead point," Falkov said.

He thanked the Slovak colleagues for their "involvement, constructive approach to the work and readiness to move on."

"Alongside the agenda that was formed, colleagues have been showing much interest in international inter-regional ties. They remember very well the cooperation built between Russian and Slovak regions and they asked us to pay attention to that, too. Plus, the cooperation among business circles, of course," Falkov said.

The talks focused in particular on areas such as energy, agriculture, nature preservation, education, science, culture, sports, and the presence and status of the Russian House in Slovakia, he said.

The Russian minister invited Slovak colleagues to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2027 and other events in Russia.

Falkov and Blanar signed the minutes of the meeting.