In foreign relations with Europe, Fico's government faced controversies due to its affiliation with the internationally isolated parties of Vladimír Mečiar and Ján Slota. Under his leadership however, Slovakia entered the Eurozone in 2009, and Fico himself in a speech to the Oxford Union praised Slovakia's entry into the European Union as a "success story." Fico opposed the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, which he called a "major mistake," as a result of which Slovakia has not recognised Kosovo as a sovereign state.