Prague, Sept 8 (CTK) – The Czech Republic and Slovakia need to strengthen the Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary) if they want to play a dignified role, President Milos Zeman said while celebrating the Slovak Constitution Day in Prague on Thursday.
Austria could be a welcomed ally, Zeman said.
In his speech, Zeman spoke about the three rods of Prince Svatopluk.
A legend has it that on his mortal bed, the 9th century ruler of the Great Moravia Empire asked his three sons to be united in order to keep the power of the kingdom.
As an example, he showed three tied rods his sons were unable to break up.
Zeman said now there were four such rods.
“In order to play a dignified role in Europe, we should strengthen Visegrad as, if I am to use a German word, a Wahlverwandtschaft, or a union through choice,” Zeman said.
The V4 countries have joint interests such as in the question of the migrant crisis, he added.
Zeman said “judging by some statements of the Austrian foreign minister,” he thought Austria could be a welcomed ally.
“All of us reject the unsolicited advice by all types of European and other officials because we are able to rule our countries ourselves,” he added.
Slovak ambassador Peter Weiss said the Czech Republic and Slovakia shared similar values and had similar interests.
