Prague, Dec 22 (CTK) – New Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) will pay a visit to the neighbouring Slovakia on January 5 and go to Bulgaria, which will preside over the European Union (EU) as of New Year, on January 22, he told reporters on Friday.
Babis also said he was arranging a meeting with European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker and that he would like to meet the leaders of the neighbouring Austria that would take over the EU presidency from Bulgaria in July.
European agenda is one of Babis’s priorities as head of government. He plans to submit the list of the most important tasks of his cabinet in European policy at the beginning of January.
Slovakia, where Babis comes from, is traditionally the first destination of Czech PMs’ foreign visits after their appointment.
However, Babis went to Brussels first to attend an EU summit a day after his ANO’s minority government was appointed on December 13. He also agreed on talks with Juncker there.
Before the EU summit, Babis met European Council (EC) President Donald Tusk in Brussels. He praised Tusk for his criticism of the migrant quotas mechanism.
Babis also took part in the talks with the prime ministers of the other three Visegrad Four (V4) countries that Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni and Juncker later joined.
Along with the Czech Republic, the V4 members are Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
