Illustrative photo – President-elect Petr Pavel spoke at a press conference on current issues and the program for the following week, February 27, 2023, Prague.
Bratislava/Prague – Czech President-elect Petr Pavel will arrive next Monday on a two-day visit to Slovakia, where he will visit just a few days after his inauguration. The Slovak presidential office announced the date of the visit to ČTK today. Pavel will assume the position of head of state on Thursday and has already said that he will go to Slovakia on his first foreign trip in office.
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The visit will take place at the invitation of President Zuzana Čaputová, who personally congratulated Pavlov at his election staff in Prague in January after the end of the decisive round of direct elections. In addition to the meeting with Čaputová, which also includes a meeting of the presidential couples, Pavel also has meetings with Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollár, Pavlov's spokeswoman Markéta Řeháková said today.
According to Čaputová's spokesman Martin Strižinec, after a joint meeting, the two presidents will honor the memory of the founders of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigu Masaryk and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, at the monuments on the Danube embankment in Bratislava. In the evening, they will participate in a joint discussion in the building of the Slovak National Theatre.
Pavel will go to Slovakia by car, he wishes to travel in a modest presidential motorcade, said Řeháková. The program will be traditional, including the usual devotional acts, but “non-traditional items” are also planned. “Another interesting program is being prepared, the main goal of which is to draw attention to the values that are common to both the Czech (Republic) and the Slovak Republic,” added Řeháková. It is supposed to symbolize the values that the presidents of the Czech Republic and Slovakia consider to be the most important.
Pavel will follow the tradition that the first journey of the top politicians of the Czech Republic and Slovakia leads to the second state of the former Czechoslovakia. The current Czech President Miloš Zeman, whose mandate ends on Wednesday, last visited Slovakia in February. In the High Tatras, he met with Čaputová, with former Slovak presidents, as well as with the Slovak prime minister and the speaker of the parliament.
