President: Slovakia and Czech Republic Confident Countries with Power in Region

       Bratislava, 2 December (TASR) - Expanding cooperation at the presidential, parliamentary and governmental levels and restoring above-standard relations between the two countries dominated the meeting between President Peter Pellegrini and Speaker of the Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on Tuesday, TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department.
        "Slovakia and the Czech Republic are self-confident countries that have strength in the region with great potential," said Pellegrini, emphasising the importance of cooperation within the Visegrad Four (V4) group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in central Europe, which has been stagnated somewhat in recent years.
        According to the head of state, there's a need to focus primarily on issues that unite countries and on which they have common priorities. In the case of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, these include, for example, opposition to the ban on combustion engines, a similar stance on migration, joint support for agriculture and farmers, and an identical position on the priorities of the European budget.
        Pellegrini expressed gratitude for the fact that potential representatives of the future Czech government had come to Slovakia.
        During his visit to Slovakia, Okamura met Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD), who described his visit as a restart of Czech-Slovak relations. Rasi believes that the two countries' parliaments will be the driving force for resuming talks between Slovakia and the Czech Republic at both the official and unofficial levels. In the afternoon, Okamura also met Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD).
        Okamura's visit to Slovakia is his first foreign trip as Lower House Speaker.