On 13-14 November, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, paid an official visit to Prague. The talks with the Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg and Deputy Prime Minister, Alexanderm Vondra, responsible in the Czech government for European affairs, as well as the meeting with President Vaclav Klaus, were conducted in the context of Czech preparations for the upcoming take-over of the European Union presidency. Minister Sikorski offered his support to the Czech Republic’s priorities for the presidency, including further EU expansion, implementation of the Eastern Partnership project serving to strengthen European prospects for the EU’s eastern neighbours, deepened dialogue regarding European energy security and the development of transatlantic cooperation.

        The situation in Georgia and Ukraine was discussed – Poland and the Czech Republic are consistently providing support for bringing those countries closer to Euro-Atlantic structures. The significance of cooperation among Central and Central Eastern European countries based on the experience of the Visegrad Group in order to realise joint priorities in the EU was underlined in discussions.

        The ministers underlined the interest of both governments in the new American administration continuing plans to install elements of the missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. President Klaus congratulated Poland on the way it conducted negotiations in the matter.

        During the visit, the ceremonial signing took place off a foreign ministers’ memorandum regarding the establishment in 2009 of a new platform, the Polish-Czech Forum, for cooperation among non-governmental organisations and institutions from Poland and the Czech Republic. The platform will be sponsored by the foreign ministries of both countries and will serve to support bilateral scientific, social and cultural contacts.