Prime Minister Babiš in Slovakia on first bilateral foreign visit

Andrej Babiš arrived in Bratislava on Friday for his first bilateral foreign visit as prime minister. He was welcomed by his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.

Issues due to be discussed in their meeting were Czech and Slovak cooperation in the areas of transport, defense and security, and energy.

One issue which came to the fore at the press event afterwards was that of EU quotas and continuing opposition by the Czech Republic and other countries in the Visegrad 4 to the EU relocation of migrants. Mr Fico said that the migrant quotas “did not work” and had “divided Europe to an unbelievable extent”. Also to be discussed were important anniversaries the Czech Republic and Slovakia are commemorating this year, including the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia.

After a working lunch and the joint press conference, the prime ministers were scheduled to lay wreaths at a statue of the first Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and a monument to the co-founder of the Czechoslovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik.

Mr Babiš is being accompanied on the visit by Defense Minister Karla Šlechtová and Finance Minister Alena Schillerová.

Author: Jan Velinger