Central European foreign ministers meeting in Czechia to discuss Covid, EU expansion

Foreign minister Jakub Kulhánek (Social Democrats) has announced the formation of a special group of coordinators who will manage the cooperation in the coronavirus response between Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia. He did not rule out the possibility of further measures on the countries‘ borders. The statements were made in a press conference organised during the ongoing Central European Five (C5) meeting in the northern Bohemian town of Mělník on Tuesday.

Topics of discussions between the five countries include cooperation in combatting the coronavirus pandemic, the enlargement of the European Union to include the Western Balkans and cooperation in the Eastern Partnership project, which develops closers ties with countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

The meeting of foreign ministers took place several times under Kulhánek’s predecessor Tomáš Petříček (ČSSD). They are due to meet again in May, in the Slovak capital Bratislava, to discuss the situation in Ukraine and EU-Russia relations, with their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytr Kuleba attending.