Press Releases

9. 10. 20079:19

Premier Mirek Topolánek Visiting France

On the first day of his visit to France, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek of the Czech Republic met the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the Elysee Palace.

During their talks, extended from the originally planned 20 minutes to almost an hour, the two statesmen discussed the Czech Republic’s presidency of the Council of the EU and the forthcoming EU Summit in Lisbon. The Czech Premier emphasized that the Czech Republic wants a full-fledged presidency. He added that he perceived Nicolas Sarkozy´s coming to power as a breakthrough in Franco-Czech relations. The two leaders also discussed the French President’s proposal to establish what is called a “group of the wise“ to address the issues of the future of the European Union. At the end of their meeting, the two leaders spoke about the possibility of the French President visiting Prague.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek then met the French Premier Francois Fillon and suggested, inter alia, the holding of a Franco-Czech ministerial seminar in Prague to discuss the interlink between the agendas of the Czech and French EU presidencies. During the talks, the Czech Premier praised especially his country’s economic cooperation with France, which is the fourth biggest investor in the Czech Republic. The two Premiers then talked about the energy sector and a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

In the evening, Premier Mirek Topolánek laid a bouquet of flowers at the monument of the Czechoslovak Legionnaires in the Parisian cemetery Pere Lachaise.

On the second day of his visit to France Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek leaves Paris for Toulouse and Marseilles.

Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic