Slovakia–United States relations

Slovakia-United States relations are bilateral relations between Slovakia and the United States.

History

The fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and the subsequent split of the two republics on January 1, 1993, allowed for renewed cooperation between the United States and Slovakia. The election of a pro-Western, reformist government in late 1998 further boosted close ties between the countries. The United States delivered more than $200 million after 1990 to support the rebuilding of a healthy democracy and market economy in Slovakia, primarily through programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Slovakia and the United States retain strong diplomatic ties and cooperate in the military and law enforcement areas. The U.S. Department of Defense programs have contributed significantly to Slovak military reforms.

Millions of Americans have their roots in Slovakia, and many retain strong cultural and familial ties to the Slovak Republic. President Woodrow Wilson and the United States played a major role in the establishment of the original Czechoslovak state on October 28, 1918, and President Wilson's Fourteen Points were the basis for the union of the Czechs and Slovaks. Tomas Masaryk, the father of the Czechoslovak state and its first president, visited the United States during World War I and used the U.S. Constitution as a model for the first Czechoslovak Constitution.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials include:
* Ambassador--Vincent Obsitnik
* Deputy Chief of Mission--Keith Eddins
* Political/Economic Chief--Susan Ball
* Economic Officer--William Taliaferro
* Commercial Officer--David Ponsar
* Consular Officer--Simon Hankinson
* Management Officer--Charles Eaton
* Public Affairs Officer--Edward Kemp
* General Services Officer-Andrew P. Hogenboom
* Defense Attaché--Lt. Col. David Galles
* Office of Defense Cooperation--Major Brad Hocevar

The U.S. maintains an embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia.

See also

* Foreign relations of Slovakia
* Foreign relations of the United States

References

StateDept [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3430.htm]