Following Former Slovak premier and current chairman of the Slovak-Russian Society Jan Carnogursky, Slovakia can take advantage of its good relations with Russia – an area in which it's ahead of many EU countries, with the exception of Germany.

Carnogursky was speaking at the reception devoted to Russian state holiday "Russia Day", which falls on Thursday (June 12). The event dates back to 1990, when the Russian parliament officially declared its independence.

Also in attendance at the reception were Slovak Government representatives, including Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Russia's ambassador to Slovakia Alexander Udaltsov said that the holiday commemorates the day of Russia's independence, and the day of the recognition of the country's sovereignty. "It's an important holiday for us, as it reminds us of just how large Russia is ... and how many friends it has, which this reception attests to."

According to Carnogursky, Slovakia can play the role of mediator between Russia and the West. He stated that Slovakia really has the best relations with both West and East. "We don't have historically burdened relations with any country. Maybe a bit with Hungary, but it's laughable in the current situation...," said Carnogursky.

In his opinion, "we can contribute to dialogue between the East and West wherever possible. And we do. Slovak diplomats reached some important positions in the world precisely because of this. For instance, Eduard Kukan was a special proxy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for the Balkans, Jan Kubis used to represent the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and Miroslav Lajcak is currently the top representative of the international community for Bosnia and Herzegovina. These diplomats got to their positions because three powers concurred - Russia, the EU and the USA," Carnogursky pointed out.

(TASR)