PM Robert Fico in parliament on November 21, 2023. (source: TASR)
Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet with Czech officials on Friday, but it initially looked like his meeting with the Czech president would not take place.
The Czech website Novinky.cz writes that Fico chose the date, November 24, even though it does not reportedly suit Czech President Petr Pavel, nor speakers of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Miloš Vystrčil and Markéta Pekarová Adamová. Moreover, Fico will meet with Czechia’s pro-Russian ex-president Miloš Zeman and opposition leader Andrej Babiš, in addition to Czech PM Petr Fiala.
Zeman and Babiš, as well as ex-Czech president Václav Klaus, expressed support for Fico ahead of the parliamentary election in Slovakia at the end of September.
“It’s diplomatically unacceptable,” a source told the website about Fico’s plan to meet with Zeman and Babiš.
Pavel considered not meeting with the Slovak prime minister. However, Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová has convinced him to meet with Fico so as not to disrupt brotherly Slovak-Czech relations.
The presidents met on November 16 in Prague, a day before both countries marked the fall of communism and the Velvet Revolution.
Czech President Petr Pavel and Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová in Prague on November 16, 2023. (source: TASR)
“President Pavel was upset that Fico did not take a single friendly step towards the Czech Republic. He acted as if he didn’t care at all,” a source told the Czech website.
On Friday, Pavel initially did not plan to be in Prague. Other Czech officials reportedly planned to visit Ukraine.
However, according to the source, the Czech Republic will behave like an “older, more mature brother”, in part due to the fear that Fico could use the rejection to his benefit.
Before the Slovak election, Pavel said that Fico’s return to power could harm Slovak-Czech relations given his political views, in particular when it comes to the war in Ukraine. In return, Fico accused Pavel of interfering in the Slovak election.
