26 June 2024
On Wednesday, 26 June 2024, President of the Republic Petr Pavel welcomed Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to Prague Castle. It was the first official state visit of a Slovak head of state in the presidential office. The Presidents agreed that despite some differences of opinion, the basis of the extraordinary relations remains intact.
“I am very glad that the President has kept the tradition that exists between our countries and that he has come to the Czech Republic for his first official bilateral visit. I see this as an opportunity to redefine our relations, because it is, to some extent, a new beginning," said President Pavel at a meeting with journalists.
"Our countries are historically intertwined on many levels - interpersonal, cross-border, cultural, sporting, political, economic and financial. The ties are truly deep. The Slovak Republic is an important economic partner for us, with many Czech companies operating on the market there, as well as Slovak companies here in our country. The Czech Republic is also the largest investor in Slovakia. All areas of cooperation are running and will continue to run," added President Paul.
Speech by the President of the Republic at the press conference here.
Photo: Tomáš Fongus
Communication Department of the CPR CR
Speech by the President of the Republic at the press conference during the official visit of the Slovak President to the Czech Republic
26 June 2024
Hello, ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to the press conference on the occasion of the first visit of the new Slovak President. I am very pleased that the President has kept the tradition that exists between our countries and that he has come to the Czech Republic for his first official bilateral visit. I see this as an opportunity to redefine our mutual relations, because it is, to some extent, a new beginning. There is definitely a lot to build on. At the same time, I would like to say that our relations are not only defined by foreign policy. Our countries are historically intertwined on many levels - people-to-people, cross-border, cultural, sporting, political, economic, financial. Those ties are really deep. The Czech Republic is the largest investor in Slovakia, we also have many Czech companies in Slovakia and Slovak companies in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic is an important economic partner for us, so all these areas of cooperation are running and will continue to run.
We discussed with the President new forms of cooperation that we could emphasize, be it joint trips to various multinational, multi-format events, such as the V4, B9, NATO and others. Joint participation in various cultural and sporting events. We also talked about how to, for example, expand cooperation with the young generation, how to reach out to students in both countries to show what we have in common and where we can cooperate more. We talked about topics that we have in common, such as security, the situation in Ukraine, the upcoming Alliance Summit. We also talked about what we can do to increase the defence capabilities of our countries in the framework of cooperation not only in the NATO format, but also bilaterally. How our defence industry companies can work together. These are all very concrete things that are ongoing and will continue to be ongoing.
The Czech Republic participates in the multinational defence capability building in Slovakia. It is a grouping of which the Czech Republic is and will continue to be a part. The Czech Republic currently provides airspace protection to the Slovak Republic in cooperation with Poland and Hungary, and this will also continue. So I think that there are really a number of possibilities here. I am glad that we had the opportunity to talk very openly with the President about these matters. There will be many more occasions before the end of this year when we will see each other, whether on a bilateral or multilateral basis, so I expect that the communication will be very substantive and will take place on a regular basis.
Thank you. Thank you.
Petr Pavel, President of the Republic, Prague Castle. 26 June 2024
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