Czech President-elect Petr Pavel has asked the Ukrainian side to propose a date for his visit to Kyiv, according to a recent press conference held in the Prague Hrzan Palace. Pavel recently met with Ukrainian Parliament head Ruslan Stefanchuk at a security conference in Munich, where Stefanchuk expressed the strong interest of Ukraine in the journey of the newly elected Czech President to Ukraine. Pavel also noted, however, that he felt the number of official visits to the war-stricken country had been rather high recently.

“That is why I asked them to be the first to propose the date of the visit. The flexibility on our part is higher. I suppose the Ukrainian side will get back to us with a proposal soon,” said Pavel at the conference.

Pavel is set to visit Poland officially as head of state on March 16-17, a week after his inauguration. He promised Polish President Andrzej Duda that his second journey abroad would be to Poland, with the first one set to be to Slovakia. Duda also plans an informal meeting with Pavel and Latvian President Gitanas Nauseda in Wisla, although he has not specified the date yet.

At the conference, Pavel also held debates with French President Emmanuel Macron, Latvian President Gitanas Nauseda, and Polish President Andrzej Duda. He also talked to the Swedish, Finnish, and Estonian PMs, several foreign ministers, and Bavarian Minister President Markus Soder.

The upcoming visit to Ukraine is expected to strengthen the diplomatic ties between the two countries, which have been strained in recent years due to the war in eastern Ukraine. The visit is also seen as an opportunity to discuss further cooperation between the two nations, especially in areas such as trade, investment, and tourism.

Pavel, who has served as the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee from 2018 to 2021, is expected to bring his wealth of experience in the military to bear on discussions related to security and defense. The visit is also expected to deepen the cooperation between the two countries in areas such as energy security and cybersecurity.

The Czech Republic has historically been one of Ukraine’s key allies in Europe, and the visit is expected to reaffirm the strong ties between the two countries. Ukraine, on the other hand, is seen as a crucial partner for the Czech Republic as it seeks to strengthen its ties with the rest of the world. The visit is expected to be a significant step forward in strengthening the ties between the two countries and in opening up new avenues for cooperation.

Article by Prague Forum