SLOVAKIA has made great advances in recent years that are at least partly due to its membership in the European Union, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Slovak journalists in an interview in Brussels on April 6.
Barroso is due to come to Slovakia next week to see, among other things, how the country has profited from its membership, the TASR news agency wrote.
"In general, the past two years have been a success for Slovakia. If we look at the current situation in the country and compare it with 3-4 years ago, it has greatly improved in terms of GDP, economic growth, the country's modernisation
and adapting to a much more competitive environment," said Barroso. He also said, however, that there are areas in which Slovakia has to intensify its efforts, such as employment, especially of women.
Barroso also commented on EC declarations regarding the upcoming EU meeting on European energy policies, and the need to discuss nuclear energy, although it was the EU that forced Slovakia to decommission the reactor blocks at the
Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant in the Trnava region.
"Nuclear energy is very important, and should be discussed. As for Slovakia and some other countries, the problem was nuclear power plants that didn't meet EU standards. Therefore, it was a very important condition during negotiations for
these facilities to be decommissioned," Barroso said.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
TheSlovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the informationpresented in its Flash News postings.
