President Miloš Zeman welcomed Hungarian President Katalin Nováková at Prague Castle. March 3, 2023, Prague
Prague – The Presidents of the Czech Republic and Hungary, Miloš Zeman and Katalin Nováková, agreed that there is a need to work to end the war in Ukraine. They said this at a press conference after today's farewell meeting at Prague Castle. They also talked about bilateral cooperation or the future of the Visegrad Four. Zeman was presented with the highest Hungarian honor by the president.
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Zeman said he greatly appreciated Novak's earlier statement condemning Russia's aggression in Ukraine. “We agreed on the need to work to end the war and to ensure that this war is followed, if not directly by peace, then at least by a cease-fire,” Zeman said. According to him, it will be necessary for some countries to take on a mediation role, and according to him, Hungary is undoubtedly among such countries. He also previously identified Serbia, China or Austria as possible mediators.
According to Nováková, the positions of both presidents in relation to Ukraine are similar in many respects, according to her, Hungary condemns Russian aggression and supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine. According to her, war only has losing sides. She spoke out in favor of ending the conflict as quickly as possible, so that there could be a ceasefire and peace negotiations. She noted that Hungary finds it difficult to tolerate the restriction of the right of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine to use their language.
Zeman od Nováková received the highest state award, the Hungarian Cross of Merit, as “an expression of respect for the Hungarian nation”. The Czech president described the award as proof of good and friendly cooperation between the two countries.
According to Zeman, they agreed that bilateral relations are excellent, mutual trade is growing and they did not find any problem areas that needed to be solved.< /p>
They found agreement between Zeman and Nováková on the opinion regarding the Visegrád Four (V4), to which, in addition to the Czech Republic and Hungary, Slovakia and Poland also belong. The Czech president noted that both are speaking out against “not very mature politicians” who would like to break up or end Visegrad cooperation. “We consider it a natural path to Central European cooperation and similar regional cooperation like the Benelux or the Nordic Council,” said Zeman. He described Central Europe as “a specific cultural phenomenon in its own way” and, according to him, this historical heritage in the form of the V4 should be preserved or even expanded.
Nováková described the V4 as a union of reason and heart. He also wants to talk about Visegrad cooperation with the incoming Czech president Petr Pavlo, whom he will meet in the afternoon. Pavel is critical of the current form of V4. Zeman hopes that the Hungarian president will convince Pavel about cooperation within the V4. Nováková believes that the ties that unite Visegrád are stronger than the points on which the countries currently disagree.
Nováková praised the work of Zeman in the position of president and in previous political positions for Czech-Hungarian friendship.
