Czechs support Slovak NATO, EU bids

Slovak Foreign Minister Pavol Hamžík told Czech officials on September 12 that he sees no reason why Slovakia should be excluded from European integration processes, Czech media reported. "We should not be viewed only through the prism of the Slovak opposition," Hamžík argued. After meetings with his Czech counterpart, Josef Zielenec, as well as President Václav Havel and Parliamentary Chairman Miloš Zeman, Zielenec told reporters that "it is in our vital interest that Slovakia become a member of the same organizations, that is NATO and the European Union." Hamžík objected when Zeman repeated his recent criticism of some political developments in Slovakia.