Newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel plans to visit neighboring countries in the first 100 days, a visit to Ukraine is planned for April, the Czech publication Ceske Noviny reported.
According to the newspaper, Paul intends to visit all neighboring countries within 100 days after his election as head of state. Also in the plans for April includes a visit to Ukraine.
The media noted that Pavel showed interest in visiting Ukraine soon after he was elected the new president of the Czech Republic. He said that he would like to visit Kiev together with Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova. In late January, Pavel was invited by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski, who in a phone conversation thanked Pavel for his support of Ukraine. Pavel asked the Ukrainian side about the date of the visit in February.
It is noted that with his trips abroad Paul wants to show that the Czech Republic has returned to an active approach in foreign policy at the presidential level. “I don’t expect to have to go anywhere else during this period, because I really consider our neighborhood a priority,” Ceske Noviny quoted Pavel as saying.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok will together visit Ukraine on February 7-8 on the invitation of their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The first ever visit by the foreign ministers of the Slavkov or Austerlitz format to Kyiv is to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s press service said in a statement.
Kuleba and his Czech, Slovak and Austrian counterparts will hold talks with key agenda items such as “further support for Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, the implementation of a comprehensive containment package for the Russian Federation, strengthening security cooperation, supporting the economic and financial stability of our state,” it said.
The Slavkov format ministers are also planning to visit the zone of Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation to familiarize themselves with the current situation, Kyiv said.
