Pavel Plans to Call for Aid for Ukraine at Trencin V4 Summit

Prague, 2 November (TASR-correspondent) - Czech President Petr Pavel is set to call for aid for Ukraine at the summit of the Visegrad Four (V4: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) presidents in Trencin on Wednesday and Thursday (4-5 November), TASR's special correspondent in Prague has reported. The summit will also be attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and, according to the Czech President's Office, Pavel will call on Europe to join the negotiating table to achieve peace in Ukraine. The main topics of the Trencin summit will include the enlargement of the European Union (EU), Ukraine and European security, and affordable energy prices. The Czech head of state regards the enlargement of the EU as one of the most important strategic investments in Europe's future. In his view, this will strengthen European security, economic resilience and geopolitical influence. On the subject of Ukraine, Pavel will argue that Europe shouldn't waste time and must join the negotiating table. At the same time, he considers it to be essential that the debate on ending the war should be accompanied by discussions on the future architecture of European security. According to his office, he'll emphasise that the future of Europe is also being decided in Ukraine, and it is therefore crucial to lend a helping hand and work towards its reconstruction. In his view, it is important that the country should be able to get through the coming winter. Pavel regards the issue of affordable energy prices as a specific area in which the V4 region can cooperate closely, in particular given the industrial focus of all four countries. At the same time, it is desirable that consideration should also be given to common climate goals as well as diversifying resources so that European countries won't be dependent on unreliable suppliers. am/df