Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová had to convince Czech President Petr Pavel to receive Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on the first traditional diplomatic visit.
Pavel and Fico arrived in the Czech Republic on Friday, but on the eve of the official state visit, Pavel was reportedly upset that Fico insisted on visiting him on a day when he and the leaders of the Czech parliament, Miloš Vystrčil and Markéta Pekarová Adamová, had other plans and “refused to move an inch.”
Pavel was struck by Fico’s intention to meet with former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and former President Miloš Zeman. The Czech publication reported:
That is diplomatically totally unacceptable. When a prime minister makes his first visit to a country, he is supposed to meet with the president and prime minister, not with the head of the opposition or a former president.
A meeting with Čaputová in November forced Pavel to reconsider his decision, but the two leaders’ opposing views on the war in Ukraine became a stumbling block. While the Czech Republic remains a supporter of Kyiv, Fico favoured an end to Slovak military aid, calling the situation a “frozen conflict” that cannot be resolved by sending weapons.
Petr Pavel claimed after the meeting:
Good relations between our countries are an absolute priority, and pre-election rhetoric can no longer enter into the current cooperation.
Fico encountered a group of protesters in the Czech Republic who advised him to “go home to Russia.” However, Czech Prime Minister Fiala stated that the country would support Slovakia in its attempt to extend an exemption from a Europe-wide ban on exports of Russian oil products.
The current exemption, which expires on December 5, allows Slovak refinery Slovnaft, part of Hungarian group MOL, to export products made from Russian crude oil to the Czech Republic. Slovakia argues that the ban would lead to a complete shutdown of the refinery, which in turn would result in an oil deficit.
Despite record profits, Slovnaft has not been able to cope with its dependence on Russian crude this year.
