The two Prime Ministers held a joint press conference at the government office following the meeting. Credit: vlada.cz.
Prague, July 4 (CTK) – Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) received Slovak PM Ludovit Odor at the Kramar Villa in Prague today, to discuss energy and defence cooperation, the situation surrounding the war in Ukraine, and the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.
Odor was also due to hold talks with President Petr Pavel in Prague later in the afternoon.
In addition to defence, Ukraine and NATO, Fiala’s office said the prime ministers would be discussing common European challenges such as migration, the Euro 7 emissions standard, and the revision of the European Union’s long-term budget.
They held a joint press conference at the government office following the meeting.
Odor took the helm of Slovakia’s caretaker government in mid-May, and he and Fiala held their first talks in late May in Bratislava on the occasion of the Globsec international security conference.
Last week, a meeting of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) was held in Bratislava, where Odor welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki alongside Fiala.
The Czech Republic took over the one-year V4 presidency from Slovakia at the weekend, and aims to build on the previous presidency’s efforts to return to the roots of cooperation based on the principles of human rights, freedom and democracy.
According to the Czech presidency, the V4 must also provide clear, firm and concrete support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which has been dealing with a Russian invasion since last February.
Speaking at the press conference after the meeting with PM Odor, Fiala urged Poland and Hungary not to block the recently-agreed EU migration deal. Odor and Fiala agreed that such a solution should come at the European level, which was put in jeopardy by Poland and Hungary’s obstructionism at last week’s European Council meeting.
Meanwhile, Fiala praised the improved cooperation with Slovakia over refugee flows, and said it was the key to avoiding the reimposition of border controls. He added that the Czech Republic and Slovakia share the same view on illegal migration, and the need to strengthen the protection of the EU’s external border and improve the return policy.
