Fiala: When Fico Is Back at Work, We Can Start Speaking about Government Talks

Prague, July 1 (TASR-correspondent) - When Slovak Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is back at work, it'll be possible to talk about whether the consultations between the Czech and Slovak governments would make sense and, potentially, at what time they could be held, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Monday following a meeting of the most senior constitutional officials at Prague Castle. "It's not on the agenda because a meetings of prime ministers is absolutely crucial for the intergovernmental talks. The Slovak premier is currently recovering, so when he's fully at work, we can talk again about whether such negotiations make sense and possibly on what date. Until then, I'd consider this debate premature and, in a way, disrespectful on our part," stated the Czech prime minister. Fiala went on to say that the relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia are excellent on many levels, noting that all forms of bilateral negotiations are taking place, including regular meetings of ministers, as well as pointing to the recent visit of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to Prague. "Relations are really multilateral and good. Despite the fact that we don't understand each other with the Slovak government on some foreign policy issues, this doesn't have to weaken our relations in any significant way," said Fiala. In early March, in response to Slovakia's stance on the war in Ukraine, the Czech Republic postponed the Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations, which are a manifestation of the above-standard relations between the countries. The Czech Prime Minister's Office justified this by disagreeing with some of the Slovak government's foreign policy moves. Last week, Fiala said that considerations about resuming the talks are premature, to which the Slovak government responded by saying that it didn't consider his words to be respectful and conducive to good neighbourly relations. am/mcs