Bratislava, Sept 26 (CTK) – Slovakia and the Czech Republic will continue implementing joint projects in the area of road and rail connection and airspace protection, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said after a joint meeting of the two cabinets in Bratislava yesterday.
Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka said a Czech-Slovak agreement on joint skies protection may be signed by the end of the year.
Fico (Smer-Social Democrats) and Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) also spoke of the planned celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Czechoslovakia, a former joint state of Czechs and Slovaks, in 2018.
“Several projects still remain open, mainly a motorway interconnection and the reconstruction of the rail corridor,” Fico told a press conference.
The Czech and Slovak governments want to continue supporting the projects such as a road connection between the neighbouring regions of Zlin, southeast Moravia, and Trencin, southwest Slovakia, and also Frydek-Mistek, northeast Moravia, and the adjacent Slovak region of Zilina.
As far as rail transport is concerned, modernisation of the corridor from Breclav, south Moravia, via Bratislava to Sturovo, south Slovakia, has been planned.
Fico and Sobotka agreed on the need to enhance the protection of the EU’s outer border with the aim to curb the influx of refugees.
“Quotas and a mandatory redistribution of refugees mean a blind alley,” Sobotka said.
The joint sky protection project was also discussed by the two cabinets at their meeting last year. Its final shape will influence the Slovak cabinet’s decision on what aircraft to use for airspace protection in the future.
At present, the Slovak air force uses MiG-29 planes. Bratislava is yet to decide whether to extend the MiGs’ lifespan or lease the Swedish-made JAS-39 Gripen fighters as the Czech air force has done.
Sobotka said he expects the Czech-Slovak joint sky agreement to be completed this year.
Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) told journalists later that the agreement, which will need to be passed by parliament and signed by the president, is also to include bilateral cooperation against non-military targets such as a plane hijacked by terrorists.
Referring to the planned modernisation of the Slovak air force fleet, Stropnicky said the Slovaks have been negotiating hard in search of the best possible conditions.
“I would be glad if they chose the path we have taken ourselves,” Stropnicky said, adding that the Gripen fighters have also been used by Hungary.
If Slovakia decided to lease Gripens, its pilots could use the specialised training centre in the Czech Republic, he said.
Fico and Sobotka agreed in a joint statement that there is a space for further bilateral cooperation in the area of military modernisation, mainly in purchasing or upgrading combat vehicles.
Slovakia and the Czech Republic are preparing joint celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Czechoslovakia (1918), 50 years from the Prague Spring communist reform movement in Czechoslovakia (1968) and 25 years from the establishment of the two independent states (1993).
“The three anniversaries are a reason for us to prepare the programme of [the 2018] celebrations on the levels of our cultural institutions and civic society,” Sobotka said.
He and Fico also agreed on the next joint meeting of the two cabinets next year, which is to be hosted by the Czechs.
Another joint meeting to be held in the Czech Republic next year is that of the Czech and Slovak tripartite teams formed by representatives of the government, trade unions and employers.
