In a video message shot at the Lednice castle, Czech PM Andrej Babiš invites Slovak tourists to the Czech Republic. Speaking in his native Slovak language, Babiš appears with a glass of Pálava wine in his hand and lists Czech tourist places that Slovaks could visit, jokingly adding that Czechia needs Slovak euros.
“Greetings to all Slovaks. I don’t know if you’re watching me on Sundays on Facebook when I always talk to the Czech nation and address them “hello people.” So I say “hello Slovaks,” said PM Babiš at the beginning of the video.
“We are in Lednice, which is a fantastic castle that we have restored, and I will be very happy if you visit us in the Czech Republic, which is truly amazing. You can finally see the half-empty Charles Bridge, half-empty Český Krumlov. Beer costs half the price in Prague. Our currency is also not that strong, which is favorable for you. And what is great is that 750 thousand Slovaks come to our country every year, mainly here, to Moravia. This is a fantastic Pálava wine from Mikulov. I stayed there today and I have to recommend it,” said Babiš in a cheerful mood standing in front of the Lednice castle, where he received the V4 prime ministers last week.
“Get in the car and come visit, and try to spend some money here because we need your euros. Czechs also resumed travel to the Tatra Mountains, so we can help each other. Indeed, Czechs represent the largest share of foreign tourists in Slovakia, and you, except for the Germans, are also the largest group of foreign tourists in our country,” the prime minister said.
At the end of the video, he added that he would like the number of Slovak tourists in the Czech Republic to increase to one million.
“Now is the right time to come visit. It’s amazing, Prague, Krumlov, Telč, Karlštejn, everything is half-empty. Visit us, we will look forward to seeing you. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for each other and try to help each other. Thanks and cheers,” concluded Babiš, raising his glass of wine.
The video was posted to Youtube on Visit Czech Republic, which is managed by the CzechTourism agency.
Title image: Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Julien Warnand, Pool Photo via AP)
