Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský held talks at the Czernin Palace with his counterpart from the Federal Republic of Germany, Johann Wadephul. It was his first full-fledged bilateral visit to the region since he took office. The ministers discussed Russian aggression in Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia. On the sidelines of the meeting, the diplomatic chiefs signed the work programme of the Strategic Dialogue for the next two years and agreed to extend the activities of the Future Fund.
The agenda also included the topic of transport links between the two Central European countries. “I appreciate the commitment of the new German government to improve the quality of transport infrastructure with Czechia and Poland. Our priority is the Via Vindobona project between Berlin, Prague and Vienna, including a high-speed rail link between Prague and Dresden,” Minister Lipavský said at a press conference.
Jan Lipavský also thanked Minister Wadephul for the German contribution to the Czech munition initiative. “We devoted a large part of our meeting to the Czech-German Strategic Dialogue, which has been an important tool of diplomacy for 10 years,” Lipavský added. At the end of the visit, the ministers met with graduates of the Czech-German Young Professionals Programme, which has been helping to develop our relations for 17 years, and discussed with them topics that the young people believe should not be missing from joint debates.
