Premier: No Political Calculation Can Jeopardise Precious Slovak-Czech Relations

Bratislava, 2 December (TASR) - No political calculation can jeopardise the valuable Slovak-Czech relations, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) following his meeting with Speaker of the Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura, who visited Slovakia on Tuesday, TASR was told by the Government Office's press and information department. "I'm very pleased that today I had the opportunity to meet in person with the new chairman of the Czech Republic's Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura, and his parliamentary delegation representing the new governing coalition. It was a wonderful meeting full of understanding and mutual respect," said Fico, adding that he once again sees the prospect of joint negotiations between the governments of Slovakia and the Czech Republic and, above all, of restoring the power of the V4 (Visegrad Four: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), which, according to him, can change European issues if it moves up a gear. Okamura also met President Peter Pellegrini and Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) in Bratislava on Tuesday. His visit to Slovakia is his first foreign trip as Lower House speaker. am/df