Press Advisories

21. 10. 201322:48

Motorway to Dresden should be ready in 2015

Following the meeting with his counterpart, Prime Minister Rusnok said that the Czech Republic's priorities were the completion of the D8 motorway, the railway corridor and the navigability of the river Elbe.

Construction of the final section of the D8 motorway linking Prague and Dresden is currently under way. Completion of this section and the commissioning of the whole motorway connection with Saxony is planned for the end of 2015. This deadline is however under serious threat, since following extensive landslides during the floods in June 2013, additional clean-up and safety work is taking place in the area where the motorway is being completed.

“It is a major embarrassment and I am extremely sorry to all the smaller towns that someone put their own interests ahead of those of others, so that it was so very complicated to secure construction permits for the motorway. From a technical point of view, the whole thing is manageable, and if some of the construction costs have increased, we will have to deal with that", said Prime Minister Rusnok following the meeting.

An equally important priority for Czech-Saxony relations is the high-speed rail link from Ústí nad Labem to Dresden. This link is the strategic connection between Berlin and the region of Central and Eastern Europe. Also important, according to the Prime Minister, is the navigability of the Elbe, which is an important transport artery of European significance, and for the Czech Republic represents its only access to the sea.

“This will not fail because of Saxony, we will continue to promote the use of the Elbe, in which we have a particular interest and where we would be pleased if investment continued to be successful”, added Prime Minister of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich.

Success in uncovering the production and distribution of drugs

Under the auspices of cross-border collaboration there has been success recently in uncovering the producers and distributors of pervetin – crystal meth. According to the Czech Prime Minister the raw material for production of the drug is brought in from Poland, it is manufactured in the Czech Republic and then sold on to Germany.

“This is something that bothers us, we are not a drug-users’ paradise and will certainly not be one as time goes on. This criminal activity does exist, but it is not of Czech origin. More than two years ago we regulated access to those medicines which contain the substances from which the drugs are made. The problem lies in the fact that in Poland, for example, there is no such regulation”, said the Czech Prime Minister.

According to the Prime Minister of Saxony the consumption of pervitin—crystal meth is growing and is having a dramatic effect on young people curious to try out this cheap and relatively accessible drug. “Over recent weeks and months the Ministers of the Interior of Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic have reached agreement on specific audit and control steps”, Stanislaw Tillich added.

The discussions between the Czech Prime Minister and his counterpart from Saxony also touched on the topics of closer economic links between the two countries, collaboration during flood emergencies and the possibilities for specialist training.