Washington/Prague, July 19 (CTK) – Radek Vondracek, chairman of the lower house of Czech parliament, met U.S. House of Representatives Speaker, Republican Paul Ryan, and its Minority Leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday, and he was moving from Washington to New York City, his office announced on Thursday.
Vondracek, member of the ANO movement of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, started a ten-day visit to the United States earlier this week.
Ryan and Vondracek talked about the tariff dispute between the USA and the EU, which might harm also the Czech economy.
“Our open economy depends on exports to a considerable extent, but even the USA is so interlinked with our and European firms that the new trade barriers would harm it,” Vondracek said about the talks.
“The impact of tariffs on car imports would lead to a decrease in GDP growth especially in the Czech Republic,” he said, warning that the Czech government might not be able to launch an upgrading of the military in such a situation.
Ryan visited the Czech Republic in March. He invited Vondracek to the USA then.
Pelosi and Vondracek discussed cooperation in Central Europe.
Vondracek also met the members of the House of Representatives from the American Friends of the Czech Republic group. “The Czech-American relations on the parliamentary level are in a good condition thanks to them,” he said about these politicians.
Vondracek also talked to Undersecretary of State Stephen Mull, who is in charge of EU-US relations, about the tariffs and other affairs.
In New York City, Vondracek will meet United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and U.N. General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak. He will deliver an address in the U.N. headquarters and meet Czech employees of the United Nations.
The Czech Republic currently chairs the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
He is also to visit Chicago, a city with a strong Czech community, and the state Wisconsin before returning home next week.
