Prime Minister Petr Fiala held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris

On Tuesday, 7 June 2022, Prime Minister Petr Fiala met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The main topic of the meeting was the war in Ukraine and its impact not only on the European Union. It was the first bilateral meeting with President Macron since he took office.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron both geopolitical issues related to the Russian aggression in Ukraine and further development of bilateral relations between the two countries. Another important topic was the future Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, which the Czech Republic will take over from France on 1 July 2022. The Czech Republic is thus taking up the baton at a difficult time. The war in Ukraine has disrupted the international order and the Presidency's priorities in a way that must now reflect the new geopolitical reality.

"The meeting was very friendly and substantive, and we moved forward on a number of issues," Prime Minister Petr Fiala summarised the course of the meeting. "Of course, we talked about the French Presidency, its results, its conclusion at the next European Council in June and what we expect from it. We also discussed how the Czech Presidency will continue, including the issue of Ukraine and other challenges facing the European Union," the Prime Minister said.

France is a major energy partner of the Czech Republic. The cooperation could thus deepen in this situation. Prime Minister Fiala, even with regard to  different geographical location of both countries, presented to President Macron the specific situation and the obstacles that the Czech Republic has to overcome on the way to reducing its energy dependence on Russian gas, oil and other raw materials.

"A significant part of our meeting was also devoted to issues of intense interest to the Czech Republic and France, such as the issue of energy security. This is an important topic for the Czech Republic and it is an important topic for Europe. We have one common strategic cause here, and that is the promotion of nuclear energy and its development. Cooperation with France is important for us both at the level of the European Union, so that, as we have already succeeded in doing, we can get nuclear energy into the clean supported sources, so that nuclear energy can be part of the taxonomy, so that nuclear energy can be part of the energy mix of individual European countries. And then, of course, there is the concrete cooperation between our two countries in the development of nuclear energy in the Czech Republic," the Czech Prime Minister recalled.

The two statesmen also discussed other possibilities of cooperation in the defence industry and cooperation in the field of transport, especially on the development of high-speed lines.