Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas undertook his first official visit abroad on Monday, travelling to the Slovak capital of Bratislava to meet with his counterpart Iveta Radičová. In their talks, the two discussed numerous issues, as well as the possibility of increased cooperation between both countries on the European level.
Petr Nečas, Iveta Radičová, photo: CTK
It has become something of a tradition for Czech leaders to make their first official visit abroad to Bratislava and Petr Nečas, whose government took office three weeks ago, made no exception. On Monday he and new Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová found common ground on a number of issues, from the economy to energy security. Mr Nečas also raised the issue of closer cooperation between both countries in the future. A little earlier I discussed the prime ministers’ meeting as well as Czech-Slovak relations with political analyst Petr Just, who agreed that while both countries are undeniably close, there are also important distinctions.
Petr Nečas, Iveta Radičová, photo: CTK
“After Czechoslovakia split in 1993 it appeared that both of the countries would go their own way, but in fact the relationship turned out to be very close after 1998 and when both countries joined the EU in 2004. There is one major difference, of course, the acceptance of the Euro by Slovakia but not yet by the Czech Republic. Currently, during the economic crisis or in EU discussions, Slovakia face slightly different problems. Slovakia is co-responsible for financing help for countries in the eurozone that get in trouble, as we saw with Greece. So their priorities or problems are slightly different.”
That said, Prague has backed Slovakia previously and now the two countries could take a step closer on European issues – with the possibility of agreeing on a joint-stance when possible ahead of EU council meetings. On Monday both leaders agreed to an increase in informal talks, not a surprising move given Mr Nečas’ and Mrs Radičová’s political cooperation in the past as well as shared conservative politics. Cooperation could also be further strengthened within the Visegrad group, which includes Poland and Hungary. I asked Petr Just how he saw the arrangement:
Petr Nečas, Iveta Radičová, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, Polish PM Donald Tusk, photo: CTK
“The Czech Republic and Slovakia – if they are the only two partners – don’t have much power. Even joining Poland and Hungary, I don’t think this bloc has enough strength to block decisions. All four countries, although close geographically and for historical reasons, they still have quite different interests. So I don’t believe there can be any firm bloc that will agree on voting in advance. I think that there will probably be attempts to do so but that in reality I don’t think they will come together in a practical way in voting, for example, on the European Council.”
Following their meeting in Bratislava, both Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas and Slovak PM Iveta Radičová travelled to Budapest for a meeting of the Visegrad Four on Tuesday.
