The Slovenian and Czech foreign ministers, Miro Cerar and Tomaš Petriček, highlighted their efforts for united EU, urged an open-door policy for the Western Balkans and called for even closer bilateral cooperation as they met in Slovenia. Meeting a day after the EU elections, they expressed hope that a strong, pro-European coalition would be formed in the EU parliament to address the challenges ahead.
Cerar and Petriček believe the EU should endorse the launch of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania in June since this is of utmost importance for stability in SE Europe.
“Slovenia and the Czech Republic are the countries that share similar beliefs on the current issues and promote a unified, integrated EU, democratic values, and the rule of law. We are against populism which divides nations and people”, Cerar said.
Slovenia has very good relations with the Czech Republic in many fields, both bilaterally and regionally, within the European Union and NATO, as well as in international organizations. Minister Cerar mentioned the extensive assistance of the Czech Republic during the migration crisis between 2015 and 2016 when it helped with soldiers, police officers and equipment.
Also, Slovenia has very good cooperation with Czech Republic in the economic field. The ministers expressed satisfaction that the trade, between the two countries, has been growing from year to year and reached 1.57 billion EUR last year.
