Ambassador Gabriella Sancisi - Slovakia
The ambassador
Gabriella Sancisi
See the curriculum vitae of ambassador Sancisi on rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch)
Meet the ambassador
One of the world’s youngest countries, Slovakia celebrated 30 years of independence in 2023. The Dutch King and Queen paid a state visit to Slovakia from 7 to 9 March 2023. ‘It was big milestone, a time to celebrate our partnership and to launch new plans and activities together,’ said Dutch ambassador Gabriella Sancisi. The two countries work together closely on issues like media freedom, rule of law and the circular economy.
What areas do Slovakia and the Netherlands cooperate on?
'We work together in a many areas. For example, bilateral trade or defence matters. We also cooperate on protecting journalists, fighting disinformation, ensuring gender equality and equal rights for LGBTIQ+ people and many more topics. We look for areas in which we can team up with regards to discussions in the EU and NATO.
The embassy is supporting gender equality through many projects all year long. One of them, the annual Orange the world campaign aims at raising awareness of gender base violence and combatting it in all its forms. Last year, the embassy donated orange tulip bulbs to schools around Slovakia and connected the planting to discussions with young people on gender based violence.
Climate change is another important topic for us. This year, we’ve been proud to support Young Climate Leaders Academy organized by President Zuzana Caputova, knowledge exchanges in the circular construction sector, first ever Slovak Circular Summit or the exhibition of climate photography “Visualising climate stories” curated by Kadir van Lohuizen.
Disinformation is another area where we cooperate with Slovak stakeholders. . We are looking at what can the government do to not only systematically unmask disinformation but also to help its citizens to spot fake news, starting with a learning module for school children.’
Can you give an example of something the Netherlands and Slovakia cooperate on?
‘Six years ago an investigative journalist, Ján Kuciak, was murdered here. He was in the process of exposing a major corruption scandal. His murder led to a public outcry. In the Netherlands we unfortunately had a similar experience with the murder of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.
Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of democracy. A few years ago the platform PersVeilig was established in the Netherlands. It’s a partnership between the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), the police and the Public Prosecution Service, and it helps journalists deal with and protect themselves from threats, both physical threats and aggressive messages on social media for example.
During the state visit we launched a similar mechanism here in Slovakia. This would be an example of a concrete result of the work we do together.’
Another example is Talent Garden, a joint project of 4 Dutch companies, Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and the embassy. It is a year-long traineeship program for university students during which they are able to experience work in all 4 companies via their custom internship journey. Talent Garden originated in the discussions during the State Visit and its pilot year has been launched this spring.
What can the embassy do for Dutch businesses?
‘We can answer trade-related questions, big and small. Slovakia is a Schengen country and part of the Eurogroup, so it’s quite an accessible market. Dutch companies looking to market their products here can consult us. We can offer advice and brainstorm solutions with them.
We can help them find a suitable location for their business, for example, or make the right contacts with the national or local authorities. The embassy can open doors that would ordinarily stay shut.
Slovakia plays an innovative role in the circular economy and sustainability. We can see examples of this in the construction sector, in the waste processing industry and also in the area of climate action.’