Last updated in April 2009
Political relations
German-Slovak relations have traditionally been friendly. Bilateral relations continue to be based on the of Treaty on Good-neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, dating from 27 February 1992, which recognizes the Slovak Republic as a successor state to the ČSFR.
German-Slovak contacts are numerous and there is a lively exchange of visitors at all levels – federal, state and local. Key bilateral agreements include those on social insurance (instrument of ratification signed on 17 October 2003) and on road transport (signed on 14 June 2002). Agreements on contract workers, guest workers, cultural affairs, the environment and war graves are already in force and a double taxation accord is in the final stage of negotiation.
The between 5,000 and 10,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia and the approximately 30,000 Slovak emigrants and refugees that settled in Germany after 1968 act as bridges in German-Slovak relations. The brief role played by the first Slovak state (1939-44) under Josef Tizo, who was pressured into placing the country under Hitler’s ‘protection’, and the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising by German troops in 1944 have not marred long-term relations. Also, relations with the expellee associations are relatively free from tensions. As early as 1991, a declaration issued by the Slovak Parliament helped in developing a common view of these difficult chapters in the countries’ shared history.
The Slovak government sees in Germany – and the German government in the Slovak Republic – a close partner in the EU and NATO. The closeness of bilateral relations is evidenced by the frequency of high-level visits in both directions: Federal President Köhler visited Slovakia on 2 November 2005 as part of good-neighbourly contacts, and Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier was in Bratislava on 9 December 2005 for bilateral consultations. Federal Chancellor Merkel paid her first official visit to the Slovak Republic on 11 May 2006.
President Gašparovič visited Germany in July 2006. The new Slovak Foreign Minister Lajcak paid his first official visit to Berlin in March 2009. Prime Minister Fico visited Germany in April 2007 and in March 2009 he paid a visit to the German federal state of Lower Saxony.
Economic relations
Germany is Slovakia’s most important trading partner. In 2008, Slovakian imports from Germany were worth EUR 9.9 billion and exports to Germany EUR 10 billion. As of 31 December 2007, Germany ranked second among the major investors in Slovakia, accounting for 16.3 per cent of all foreign investment in the country.
The principal German investors include Deutsche Telekom, Volkswagen, Siemens, E.ON, Sauer Sundstrand, Degussa, HypoVereinsbank, Nordzucker, Leoni Autokabel, Getrag Ford and Visteon.
In 2006, Germany was the fourth-largest foreign investor in Slovakia, after Italy, Austria and South Korea, with a total investment volume of EUR 0.12 billion.
Cultural relations
Cultural relations between Germany and Slovakia are close and extremely wide-ranging. There is a lively exchange in all areas of culture, at national level, with German federal states and private foundations as well as through institutional and private contacts. The Goethe Institute, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Central Agency for Schools Abroad, the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the Educational Exchange Service (PAD) are engaged in cooperation with Slovakia. The focus is on promotion of the German language, academic and school exchange of teachers and students as well as cultural events. The legal framework for relations is the German-Slovak cultural cooperation agreement of 1 May 1997.
After English, German is the second foreign language at Slovak schools and an important foundation for the intensive relations between Slovakia and Germany. Some 37 per cent of the pupils taking foreign languages learn German. Every year, some 70 Slovak pupils sit the German school-leaving examination at the bilingual department of the UDT grammar school in Poprad. In addition, pupils at a number of selected Slovak grammar schools can complete the German Language Diploma, which entitles successful candidates to study at German universities or technical colleges without any further proficiency test in German. In Slovakia, the P.O. Hviezdoslava Grammar School in Dolný Kubin and the F. Svantnera Grammar School in Nová Bana, both located in Central Slovakia, were selected to participate in the “Schools: Partners for the Future” initiative. In 2005, the bicultural German-Slovak School (with integrated kindergarten) was opened in Bratislava. It is now attended by 130 children who learn both German and Slovak. Another bridge between the two countries is the Carpathian German minority in Slovakia, to which some 5,400 Slovaks profess to belong and whose cultural and community-promoting activities are supported by the Federal Republic.
