Pavel Receives Caputova at Prague Castle for Her Last Visit

        Prague, June 12 (TASR-correspondent) - Czech President Petr Pavel has received her Slovak counterpart Zuzana Caputova at Prague Castle, after she arrived in Prague on Wednesday for her last foreign trip in office.
        Following the meeting with the Czech president, the heads of states will hold a joint press conference. Caputova will then head to the Prague Botanical Garden, where she'll plant a linden tree as Slovakia's national tree as part of the 'Roots of Personalities' project. As her office pointed out, the project aims to link the social legacy of prominent personalities from various fields with the natural wealth of the Earth. In the evening, the Slovak president will take part in a theatre performance.
        Caputova is due to give a speech at the 10th Prague European Summit on Thursday (June 13), where she'll also receive the 'Vision for Europe' award, which has been bestowed annually since 2016 on personalities who have contributed to the development of European ideals. In the past, the award was bestowed on former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg and former Slovak premier Mikulas Dzurinda.
        Pavel will later award Caputova the highest Czech state decoration, the Order of the White Lion, at Prague Castle. Caputova will also honour Pavel with the highest Slovak decoration - the Order of the White Double Cross.

President Zuzana Caputova wants to devote herself to education and intends to work in the academic sphere, TASR learnt from Caputova herself on Wednesday following her meeting with her Czech counterpart Petr Pavel at Prague Castle.
        The Slovak head of state further stated that she wants to rest in the next few months. "It's also clear that I'm not heading to any political office, I'm leaving the political space. And I'll at least indicate those other plans by saying that in the coming months I'd very much like to do something that I've called growth promotion. The closest thing to that is the field of education, maybe academia," the Slovak president outlined her future plans.
        On her last foreign trip as president, Caputova reiterated that the relations between the Slovak and Czech Republics are extraordinary and their basis is mainly human proximity. "At the same time, we're so close that sometimes we can indulge in honest and constructive feedback... I'm convinced that this extraordinary closeness between our countries will continue," said the Slovak head of state.
        Pavel thanked Caputova for her cooperation and added that she'll always be welcome at Prague Castle. "Thanks to the personal approach of the president, her friendliness, openness and correctness, relations between our countries have been deepened and strengthened in the desired direction in recent years, and for this she deserves great thanks," the Czech president praised her Slovak counterpart.
        Pavel pointed out that since he and Caputova were in extraordinary agreement on many issues, this might change with the arrival of the new Slovak president. He added, however, that he wants to build on the best of Czech-Slovak relations at this level. According to Pavel, Peter Pellegrini is also interested in this.