No one wants to end the cooperation of the Visegrad countries, but according to the Czech Republic, convening a new meeting of prime ministers only makes sense after the autumn elections in Slovakia and Poland – stated Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at a joint press conference with Slovak Prime Minister Lajos Ódor in Prague on Tuesday.
This was the first official trip abroad of the recently appointed Prime Minister of Slovakia.
No one wants to end the cooperation of the V4s, which, however, has several levels and areas. Cooperation continues in many areas
– said Petr Fiala in response to a question.
He noted: the one-year Czech presidency, which began in July, also expects intensive cooperation, for example, the presidential meeting in Visegrad will take place in the fall.
“We really haven’t planned a meeting of the heads of government now,” the prime minister confirmed to Czech press reports. He said: this will be convened after the parliamentary elections in Poland and Slovakia take place, the new governments are formed, and the political situation is clarified. “I believe that such a meeting only makes sense after that,” stated Petr Fiala.
On the other hand, the prime minister explained, it would not be good for the Czech Republic if its international cooperation were limited to only one platform. “Our closest partner is Slovakia, but we also seek cooperation with Poland and Hungary,” said Petr Fiala.
According to Lajos Ódor, it can truly be said that the Czech-Slovak cooperation works better than the Visegrad one. He sees that the cooperation of the four Central European countries – the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia – should be handled “pragmatically”. After the regime change, these countries faced many common or very similar problems, the key ones of which have already been solved.
Cooperation in Visegrád is “perhaps less of a focus now than before, but it is still very important,” the Prime Minister of Slovakia pointed out.
