Press Advisories

24. 4. 201916:12

Prime Minister Babiš met Alojz Kovšca, President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš met with the President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia Alojz Kovšca on Wednesday. The main topics of the meeting were regional cooperation, migration and the clearing debt from the former Yugoslavia.

Prime Minister Babiš mentioned the Czech Republic’s interest in closer cooperation with Slovenia in regional associations – in addition to the Visegrad Group especially in the Slavkov format. The Czech Republic would welcome if Slovenia became one of the first partner countries of the group, which brings together Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic and Slovenia also agree that the integration of the Western Balkan countries into European and transatlantic structures is a priority.

Both politicians further talked about supporting the return of migrants to their countries of origin and protecting the EU’s external borders. As regards the reform of the Common European Asylum System, the Czech Republic rejects temporary solutions such as temporary landing measures in the Mediterranean.

The Czech Prime Minister also mentioned the legacy of the past – a clearing debt from former Yugoslavia. In the case of Serbia, the bilateral debt settlement agreement was already signed in December 2018.

Economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Slovenia is exceptionally good. In terms of trade, Slovenia is the Czech Republic’s second largest partner in South-eastern Europe. Mutual trade turnover increased to 1.5 billion euros last year, supported mainly by the popularity of Czech cars on the Slovenian market. In 2018, Czech exports to Slovenia grew by 12% and imports by 15% year-on-year.