Foreign Policies

Zeman: Babis as Czech Premier Is Proof of Good Czech-Slovak Relations

Bratislava, December 12 (TASR) – Appointing a person from the Slovak national minority as Czech prime minister is confirmation of the good level of cooperation between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, stated Czech President Milos Zeman after meeting his Slovak counterpart Andrej Kiska in Bratislava on Tuesday.

Last week, Zeman appointed Czech politician of Slovak origin Andrej Babis to head the Czech Government.

Kiska and Zeman at the meeting positively assessed relations between the two countries. According to Kiska, in terms of bilateral relations “hardly anything could be done better”. He reiterated that he doesn’t know any other countries that have such close ties as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. “I have great personal relations with the president, despite having different views on some issues,” said Kiska.

The Slovak president further described tourism as a possible area of further cooperation, as Slovakia is the second most popular holiday destination for Czechs after Croatia. Kiska sees the only difference between Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the fact that his country has joined the eurozone while the latter hasn’t. “For our country I can say that we’re very satisfied with the fact that our country adopted the euro in the given period and under the given conditions. It was a strong impetus for developing our economy,” said the Slovak president.

Conversely, Zeman sees options for better cooperation in the areas of defence and the armaments industries, as there is still scope for improvements.

Kiska and Zeman also discussed current developments within the European Union.

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