President of the Czech Republic Pays Official Visit to the Slovak Republic

Czech President Václav Klaus, accompanied by his wife, paid an official visit to Slovakia on the 10th and 11th of January 2008. After the bilateral talks, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič reaffirmed the special relations between the two countries and praised the flawless harmonisation of their positions on international forums.

Although these positions had not always been identical, Gašparovič appreciated the capability of the two countries to act in accord for their mutual benefit with respect to their membership in international organisations. Ivan Gašparovič noted that Václav Klaus had been involved in making crucial decisions that had been for the good of Slovakia. He thanked his Czech counterpart for the responsiveness and support both on the domestic and international scene.

Václav Klaus noted that both the first and the last of the foreign trips he had made as the President led to Slovakia, which he had visited seven times during his term in office – not including mutual meetings abroad. Similarly to President Gašparovič, he praised the bilateral support at international level within the V4 Group, at the summits of Central European presidents, within the EU, the UN and other global platforms.

Both Presidents also commented on the euro-scepticism versus euro-realism issue. The Czech President described his reservations towards Brussels’ directives and cuts in competences of national states as euro-realistic. Ivan Gašparovič presented a similar standpoint, saying that the European Union had to respect certain rules but these had to derive from the national states. The two Presidents participated in a discussion with students from Bratislava grammar schools and visited the “Tančiareň” (Le Bal) show in the Slovak National Theatre.

The Czech President also met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. On the second day of Klaus’ official visit the two presidential couples visited the village of Topoľčianky with its famous château, the European Bison reserve and the National Stud Farm.