Czech and Slovak Prime Ministers: Czechs and Slovaks no longer understanding each other's languages

Slovakia's newly elected Robert Fico was in Prague on his first official foreign visit since becoming prime minister. During talks with his Czech counterpart Jiri Paroubek, both politicians agreed that younger generation Czechs and Slovaks are finding it hard to understand each other's language, even though they lived together as one nation until 1993. In an effort to change that, more cultural exchanges and TV programmes in the neighbours' languages are to be introduced.

Mr Fico also met with Czech President Vaclav Klaus at Prague Castle. Among the topics discussed were Czech-Slovak relations and closer cooperation in approaching the traditional foreign markets of the former Czechoslovakia.