The Prime Minister Babiš held talks with the Prime Minister of Saxony Kretschmer regarding the development of cross-border transport

On Wednesday, 24 January 2018, the Prime Minister Andrej Babiš met with Michael Kretchmer, the new Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony. During their negotiations in Kramář’s Villa, they talked about further development of the extraordinary Czech-Saxon relationships, particularly within the Czech- German strategic dialogue and the Czech-German Future Fund.

In particular, the main topics of the meeting included the economic development with an emphasis on industry digitisation and applied research and development. The Prime Minister Babiš also stressed the need for the development of the transport infrastructure including the navigability of the Elbe river and development of a high-speed rail between Prague and Dresden. “The rail represents a natural connection of the Czech Republic to the Western European railway network with ports in the Northern Germany. For us, its development is of a strategic importance for both personal and freight transport. I am pleased that Saxony put this project in the urgent need category. Currently, the rail feasibility study is already being performed for the Czech party. The study should be completed at the beginning of 2019 at latest,” said the Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

The Czech Republic and Saxony have a long-standing cooperation in fighting the drug-related crime owing to cross-border cooperation of their police corps. The new Czech-German policing treaty came into effect in October 2016 and among other, it extends the powers the police officers in the territory of the other state.

The Premier Babiš and the Prime Minister Kretschmer also discussed the European topics, more specifically the future of the European Union, multiyear financial framework, migration, asylum system reform and negotiations regarding Brexit.

This is Mr. Michael Kretschmer’s first visit following his nomination on 13 December 2017 when he replaced Stanislav Tillich in the office of the Prime Minister. Today, the Prime Minister and Mathias Rößler, the President of the Saxon Parliament, will attend the remembrance ceremony in Terezín on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Of all the German federal states, Saxony is the fifth largest business partner of the Czech Republic. Both countries have significant mining, energy, engineering and automotive industries. Regional economic chambers play an important role in expanding their economic cooperation.