Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a speech in Schleswig-Holstein. Credit: German Federal Government / Bergmann.
Berlin, Aug 22 (CTK) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Prague on Monday, 29 August, his first visit to the Czech Republic in his post, as announced today by the German government’s press department and confirmed by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
Scholz met Fiala in Berlin in May.
Details of the trip will be released later, according to the German government’s press department.
Scholz will hold meetings with senior Czech politicians about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impact of the war on the European Union, including energy security ahead of the upcoming winter season.
The Czech Republic is currently presiding over the EU Council.
Fiala visited Scholz in Berlin on 5 May. Their talks primarily focused on the international situation after the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Scholz announced then that Germany would help the Czech Republic replace the military equipment donated to war-stricken Ukraine. In particular, the Czech military will receive 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany for free, and intends to buy another 50 top-modern Leopard tanks of the 2A7+ version.
Germany is in many aspects a very important partner for the Czech Republic and bilateral cooperation is developing well, Fiala told reporters at a meeting of Czech ambassadors in Prague today.
“An example of this may be the German supply of Leopard tanks that will help replace the military equipment we are supplying to help Ukraine. But this is also of strategic importance for the future,” he said.
Along with strengthening defence capabilities, the energy industry will be another important topic of the talks next week, Fiala said.
“I am interested in the Czech Republic having the possibility to gain capacity from the new LNG terminal that Germany is building. This is significant to us also because we are able to import liquefied gas from Germany to the Czech Republic,” said Fiala, adding that he would also like to return to some other discussions from the May meeting in Berlin.
Scholz will travel to Prague one year after a visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Czech capital. Steinmeier travelled by train to demonstrate the proximity of the two capital cities. Scholz will fly to Prague next week.
