Prague Castle postponed President Miloš Zeman’s visit to Italy which was planned for September due to the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and related measures, the director of the castle diplomacy, Rudolf Jindrák, told the Czech News Agency.
Zeman is now looking for another suitable date with Italian partners.
Jindrák explained that the president’s injury from Tuesday evening, when he broke his arm, was not the main reason for the decision to postpone the trip. It is rather the situation around coronavirus, which does not allow the journey to take place to an extent originally envisaged.
Jindrák is now looking for another suitable date for Zeman to travel to Italy. He noted that it will depend on the current coronavirus situation. According to him, the Italian side is very flexible in finding an alternative date.
The coronavirus pandemic complicated other originally planned foreign policy activities for Zeman. For example, it is likely that representatives of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will not meet with the representatives of China at the 17 + 1 summit during this year’s autumn.
Originally, it was supposed to take place this spring but was postponed due to coronavirus.
Zeman originally did not want to attend the spring summit because, according to him, China has not fulfilled its promises regarding investment in the Czech Republic. But later he changed his mind and wanted to thank China for the supply of face masks during the pandemic.
Title image: In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, file photo, Czech President Milos Zeman arrives for a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany. The upper house of Czech Parliament has voted Wednesday, July 24, 2019, to bring charges against President Milos Zeman for violating the Constitution. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
