Ghana and Slovakia are set to advance their bilateral relations with negotiations on a visa waiver and a defence cooperation agreement.
This followed a request by Slovakia’s Ambassador designate to Ghana, Martin Podstavek, to sign a visa waiver agreement covering holders of diplomatic and service passports.
He made the request during the presentation of Open Letters to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Accra last Monday.
He was one of four non-resident ambassadors designate the minister received.
The two countries are expected to commence negotiations, as both sides have agreed to sign the waiver agreement.
The signing of the agreement would bring the total number of visa-waiver agreements signed by Ghana with other countries to 61.
While Diplomatic and service passports could access all 61 countries, ordinary passport holders could travel to 42 countries without a visa for 30 to 90 days.
Significance
For Ghana, a visa waiver with Slovakia would be strategically important diplomatically.
After similar agreements had been signed with Serbia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The waiver agreement reinforces the acceptance of Ghana’s passport across the world, including the EU and Schengen Area.
It, however, would not automatically allow ordinary Ghanaian passport holders to travel visa-free to Slovakia or a Schengen country.
With Slovakia as a Schengen and EU member, the agreement comes with real strategic value.
Although limited, the agreement would give Ghana another EU/Schengen partner on record, and strengthen Ghana's credibility when negotiating similar deals with bigger EU states.
Strategically, Slovakia alone would not transform Ghana's travel or trade.
But as part of Ghana's wider push for visa waivers across Central/Eastern Europe, plus defence and industrial cooperation, it is a useful building block, especially for official travel, defence procurements, and also opens the door to EU industrial partnerships.
Foreign policy
Mr Ablakwa said his outfit had been working “very aggressively” on visa waivers, which secured waivers with virtually all of Slovakia’s neighbours for holders of diplomatic and service passports, including Serbia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and others.
“Some of these visa waiver agreements are even more than 30, 40 years old.
So, we should do that. We are ready to sign with you,” he said.
The minister also said Ghana would be happy to sign a defence cooperation agreement with Slovakia.
He said the government intended to establish, for the first time, an electronic warfare centre to be located in Tamale, Northern Region.
Mr Ablakwa said Ghana considered Slovakia’s capacity in manufacturing, as well as in servicing and maintaining military hardware, as a great deal of experience and would, therefore, like to work with Slovakia in that area.
Consultation
The Slovakian Ambassador designate to Ghana also proposed consultations at the level of Foreign ministries, focusing on political relations and cooperation both bilaterally and with international organisations, as well as economic consultations.
Slovakia wants to update its 30-year-old treaties with a focus on economic cooperation, and says it only needs an initial signal of interest from Ghana to begin.
Mr Podstavek added that his country would host a Ghana–Slovakia business forum within the next two weeks, focusing on the automotive, banking and pharmaceutical sectors.
The two countries are also exploring a partnership in the supply of buses and establishment of a vehicle assembly plant in Ghana.
