It was the first meeting in this format since the appointment of Aleš Chmelař, who had previously served as state secretary at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. The deputy ministers discussed key topics on the current European agenda, such as the prospects for post-Brexit support provided to Polish and Czech nationals in the United Kingdom.

During his Prague visit, Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk highlighted the Czech Republic’s commitment to the Visegrad Group (V4).

“Poland places a high value not only on effective V4 collaboration, as evidenced by the European Council arrangements on migration policy from June 2018, but also on the V4’s cohesion with regard to external partners,” observed the Polish deputy foreign minister.

Moreover, the consultations looked at key bilateral and regional projects in Central Europe. Another important subject concerned preparations for this year’s anniversaries, including twenty years of Polish and Czech NATO membership. 

Turning to bilateral issues, Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk drew attention to the fact that Polish foodstuffs are sometimes publicly described in the Czech Republic as being of low quality. Minister Chmelař responded by stressing that such views were surely isolated, and suggested that the Czech Foreign Ministry would adopt public diplomacy measures to improve the image of Polish food. It was agreed that food fairs in Poland and the Czech Republic would feature joint events to promote food products from both countries.

MFA Press Office

 

Photo: Nadvornik / MSZ RCz