Maas appreciated that Petříček picked Germany for his first foreign visit as Foreign Minister. Regarding the EU, Maas noted that member states don’t have to be united on every issue, but they cannot allow the EU to be paralyzed by disagreements.
According to Maas, there are some differences between the North and the South and between the West and the East. The German Minister said that we should “build bridges” and in the region of Central Europe Czech Republic plays a key role.
Both ministers discussed the migrant crisis. Petříček said that Prague and Berlin are sharing similar opinions right now. He also added that “the migrant situation” is getting better these days.
Both states agreed to cooperate on development projects, for example in Africa. The Czech Republic itself wants to significantly increase the funds it provides for development aid. Now it is circa 0.11 percent of Gross National Product (GNP); they would like to reach 0.33 percent of GNP in the future.
