Prime Minister Babiš in Bratislava: We will resume the joint meetings of the Czech and Slovak governments
On Thursday, 8 January 2026, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš, made his first foreign trip to Slovakia, where he met his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, in Bratislava. The leaders agreed to resume the intergovernmental consultations between the two countries, with the first joint meeting of the Czech and Slovak governments tentatively set to take place in the Czech Republic at the end of March. Other important topics of the meeting included energy prices, European competitiveness and support for affordable housing. The Czech Prime Minister also met with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Richard Raši.
"My first trip abroad was of course to Slovakia. Cooperation between our countries has been great in the past. We shared a common state for 75 years in the past; Slovakia is a priority for us. Of course, we have agreed to resume the joint meetings of our governments. The first meeting could take place on 31 March in the Czech Republic. Now the bilateral meetings of the ministers of our governments will begin," said Prime Minister Babiš. The two politicians also discussed the possibility of concluding a memorandum on deepening cooperation between the two countries.
The prime ministers discussed the agenda of the informal meeting of European leaders focused on European competitiveness set to be held on 12 February in Belgium. "The one key issue we share the opinion on is high energy prices. It is imperative that we recognise the economic damage brought about by the introduction of ETS 1 across Europe. We need to get more allies on board and convince the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament to renege on this. The EU is facing a huge problem with European companies leaving the bloc in search of lower energy prices. I am therefore going to write a letter to the leaders of the Member States proposing specific solutions, including maintaining favourable financing conditions for natural gas and nuclear sources, shielding the price of ETS 1 and ETS 2 emission allowances against high volatility, or introducing the possibility of exemptions for Member States with the highest negative socio-economic impacts," said the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Babiš also stressed that the Czech Republic would do its utmost to help Slovakia once gas supplies from Ukraine are discontinued.
Prime Minister Babiš then held talks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Richard Raši. At the end of his visit he laid wreaths at the memorials of T. G. Masaryk and M. R. Štefánik in Bratislava.
