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The foreign ministers from the Visegrad 4 countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland) met on Friday in Slovakia to discuss and express support for closer cooperation between the EU and six post-Soviet countries under the Eastern Partnership project. At the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit, the V4 are set to discuss the liberalisation of visa policy. At Friday’s meeting, the foreign ministers expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, in the face of the annexation last year of Crimea by Russia. Ukraine has been participating in the Eastern Partnership, along with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova. Friday’s meeting was also attended by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics, Foreign Minister of Romania Bogdan Aurescu and Foreign Minister of Sweden Margot Wallstrom.

The Czech economy grew by 3.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015, significantly faster than in the last quarter of last year, according to the preliminary GDP estimate released by the Czech Statistical Office on Friday. The numbers year-on-year represent the fastest economic growth since mid-2008. This is a first flash estimate which could still see changes due to regular revisions. Strong results in the field of manufacturing, especially the manufacture of motor vehicles and other transport equipment and also machinery, were of key importance, statisticians confirmed. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka commented the results, saying the data reflected the current economic policy course set by the cabinet. He said the government had left behind a policy of cuts and austerity implemented by the former centre-right government, backing exports and employment.

The Czech Ministry of Interior will need 10.6 billion crowns in the next four years to enable the police to recruit 4,000 new employees and modernize its technical equipment, according to the Minister of Interior Milan Chovanec. Chovanec made the statement after meeting with police president Tomáš Tuhý and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš on Thursday. Mr Babiš has not made any promises so far, but he said he regarded the requirement as justifiable and was ready to undertake further negotiations. The Czech Police currently employs around 40,000.

Czech dentists want basic tooth fillings to be taken out of the country’s public insurance system. The sum of 1.5 million crowns, which the public insurance system would save this way, could be used to improve prevention, the dentists say. In an open letter addressed to the Health Ministry, MPs and senators, the head of the Czech dentists’ association, Pavel Chrz, demands the amalgam fillings to be excluded from health insurance coverage. He says many of his younger colleagues are not willing to cooperate with insurance companies and demand only out-of-pocket payments. The actual cost of a filling is currently around 450 crowns, but the insurers only cover half of that amount.