Prime Ministers Sobotka and Cerar discuss deeper mutual relations between the Czech Republic and Slovenia and the situation in the EU

On Monday 23 January 2017, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar at the Straka Academy. The meeting concentrated on compounding mutual relations between the two countries in trade, investment and economic cooperation The Prime Ministers also touched on the situation prevailing in the European Union and cooperation between Visegrad Group countries and Slovenia.

One of the main items on the agenda was the deepening of economic cooperation, as Slovenia is an important trading partner for the Czech Republic and reciprocal trade turnover has long followed an upward trajectory. The Czech Republic advocates the completion of the European Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor, one of the nodes of which is the Slovenian port of Koper. Plans to upgrade and increase the capacity of the Koper-Divača railway line will be instrumental in intensifying the use of the Slovenian port by Czech carriers.

The Prime Ministers also discussed the development of investments, Brexit, the future of European integration, and opportunities to enlarge the EU to embrace the Western Balkans. Other items on the agenda were cooperation between Visegrad Group countries and Slovenia within the Central European region and the mutual development of tourism.

Another area the Prime Ministers talked about was culture, against the background of the 145th anniversary of the birth and simultaneously the 60th anniversary of the death of the eminent Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, whose work and exceptional approach to architecture and town-planning have also left their indelible marks on the Czech Republic.

“The Czech Republic and Slovenia are working together in an effort to have Plečnik’s works inscribed in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. I am confident that this project of a joint supranational nomination will end in success, and the Czech Republic is ready to do all it can for the nomination to be completed shortly. Jože Plečnik influenced Czech-Slovenian relations and is an unforgettable figure in the restoration of our symbol of Czech statehood – Prague Castle. He also gave the Czechs an important religious monument in Prague – the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord in Prague’s Vinohrady district,” said Prime Minister Sobotka.

Slovenian Prime Minister Cerar, on an official visit to the Czech Republic at the invitation of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, also has meetings scheduled with President Miloš Zeman and President of the Senate Milan Štěch. As part of his broader programme, he will also have the opportunity to talk with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Andrej Babiš and Minister for Culture Daniel Herman.

The last time a Slovenian prime minister visited the Czech Republic was in 1999. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka visited the Republic of Slovenia in April 2015.