“We have to secure strategic peace in our home countries,” said Federal President Alexander van der Bellen Wednesday. He traveled to a first presidential top with his colleagues from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The content of the conversation was the war in Ukraine and the safety of Europe.
“We have become witnesses of a historically unseen escalation in recent weeks and days. The global political situation is unstable for a measure that forces us all to act, “said Van der Bellen. Among other things, he referred to the announcements of US President Donald Trump to act wars and the suspension of military aid for Ukraine. The federal president of Austria mentioned “a wise peace and defense policy”, more cohesion in Europe and better cooperation between the European arms companies.
Czech President Petr Pavel believes that Trump’s announcement is only temporary until there are negotiations at the end of the war in Ukraine. Europe can temporarily replace the lack of weapons, but not in the long term, said former NATO general and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. Politicians must “respond less in panic and not every sentence”.
Slovakia hired military help
His country has already hired bilateral military help for Ukraine. A parallel with Trump: according to his own statement, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also wants the Ukrainian government to be “grateful” for European aid. Moreover, the stopped transit Russian natural gas must be resumed.
The different positions in foreign policy have already led to a deterioration of relationships between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The regular government consultations were stopped, for example. Now Pavel and Pellegrini use the meeting for a bilateral conversation.
Praise for cross -border cooperation
Van der Bellen, in turn, spoke about good cooperation with the two governments. “This is how the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, successfully came out that Germany gave up his controversial guest transition costs.” The “high quality” of the collaboration between Kruisborder was also visible in 2021 when Austrian emergency services helped at the Tornado in South Moravia. In 2023, firefighters from the Czech Republic in Upper Austria helped out a major fire in the center of Ulrichsberg. And firefighters from Slovakia supported the forest fire in the rax area.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
