Slovakia Opens New Diplomatic Chapter with Philippines
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár’s first official visit to the Philippines will include the opening of Slovakia’s embassy in Manila, a business forum and discussions on expanding economic cooperation and strengthening engagement with ASEAN.
MANILA – Slovakia is seeking to deepen its economic and diplomatic engagement with the Philippines and Southeast Asia, with Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár scheduled to make the first official visit by a Slovak foreign minister to Manila from Nov 12 to 15.
The visit will focus on expanding bilateral trade and investment, strengthening political relations and opening new opportunities for cooperation between Slovak and Philippine businesses.
According to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Blanár will officially inaugurate the Slovak Embassy in Manila and hold talks with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque.
Accompanied by a business delegation, he will also deliver the keynote address at the Philippines-Slovak Business Forum on Nov 13, providing an opportunity for companies from both countries to explore commercial partnerships.
Bilateral trade remains relatively modest. In 2025, trade between the two countries totalled US$29.74 million, with Slovakia ranking as the Philippines’ 75th-largest trading partner.
The diplomatic engagement also reflects Slovakia’s broader interest in strengthening its presence in the Indo-Pacific and developing closer institutional ties with Southeast Asia.
During the visit, Blanár is expected to sign the Declaration on the Deposit of the Slovak Republic’s Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), an important regional framework underpinning ASEAN’s relations with external partners.
Slovakia’s accession will provide a formal basis for deeper engagement with ASEAN, consistent with its Strategic Concept on the Indo-Pacific launched in 2025. The talks between Blanár and Lazaro will also cover political cooperation, people-to-people relations and regional and international developments.
The two foreign ministers have previously met on the sidelines of the fourth European Union Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Brussels in November 2025 and the 25th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brunei in April 2026.
Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Slovakia were established in 1993, while a mechanism for political consultations was introduced in October 2014.
People-to-people connections provide another dimension to the relationship, with approximately 3,600 Filipinos living in Slovakia.
The opening of the embassy and the planned business forum signal a renewed effort to translate diplomatic relations into stronger commercial links, while giving Slovakia a more established platform for engagement with the Philippines and the wider ASEAN region.
Source: Philippine News Agency (PNA) and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
