Prime Minister Iveta Radicova made her first official visit to our Slav neighbours in the Czech Republic today, with talks including topics such as nuclear energy, the EU’s new budgetary procedures and issues of public finance.
She met with her counterpart, Czech PM Petr Necas, with whom Radicova says she has been in regular contact by phone and e-mail, albeit informally to date. Necas pointed out that they had been in touch even before the two PMs came to power, and the talks today have merely reaffirmed how the neighbouring countries and governments are on a similar wavelength.
On the subject of penalties for countries that fail to respect the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact, the two leaders have slightly different views but both agree that for the system to work properly, the penalty system should be standardised instead of being on a case-to-case basis. Necas noted that it is only natural for them to have slight differences of opinion, as Slovakia is a member of the eurozone, while the Czech Republic is still not.
While in the Czech Republic, Radicova is also meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus, as well as with former Czech president Vaclav Havel.