President to Take Part in Austerlitz Presidential Summit in Czech Republic

Bratislava, March 4 (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini is scheduled to participate in the Austerlitz Format (S3: Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) presidential summit on Wednesday (March 5), the President Office's communications department told TASR on Tuesday, adding that he will meet Czech President Petr Pavel and Austrian head of state Alexander Van der Bellen at Slavkov (Austerlitz) Castle near Brno to mark the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Austerlitz Declaration. "This will be the first ever S3 summit at presidential level since it was set up. The main topics of the presidents' joint talks will be current foreign-policy challenges, including the situation in Ukraine, the future of transatlantic relations, the enlargement of the European Union, as well as innovation, competitiveness and the role of young people in society," said the office, adding that the heads of state will also discuss ways to expand cross-border cooperation; for example, in the field of emergency services or more effective interconnection of information and communication systems. Young talent from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria will be given space on the panel on innovation and competitiveness, according to the office. "Slovakia will be represented by students working on initiatives in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics," it added. The meeting is due to take place at the invitation of the Czech president during the Czech S3 presidency, with the aim of further strengthening relations between the countries. am/df