Prime Minister Fiala will visit the USA on April 14-16, 2024. The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic stated this in a press release.
Sunday April 14: 13:45 – Fiala’s comment at Prague-Kbely airport. Press briefing before departure to the USA
Monday, April 15 (- 6 hours compared to the Czech Republic): 15:00 – meeting of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic with the President of the USA in the Oval Office (ie 21:00 CET), then – bilateral negotiations by the delegations of the Czech Republic and the USA, then – a comment for the media after the visit to the White House. 17:00 – beginning of the meeting with Czech compatriots in the USA
Tuesday, April 16 (- 6 hours compared to the Czech Republic): 12:10 local time (i.e. 18:10 CET) – appearance by Fiala at the Hudson Institute, 1:40 p.m. – meeting of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in the US Congress, 3:35 p.m. – stop at the Václav Havel bust, 18:00 – ceremony at the statue of Tomáš Garrigu Masaryk. Subsequently – a comment for the media
Wallflower will fly to Washington on Sunday afternoon, a reception at the White House is planned for Monday at 9:00 PM CEST.
After meeting with Biden There will also be a meeting of the delegations of both countries in the Oval Office. With Biden, Fiala will discuss security cooperation, including further support for Ukraine, the aim of the meeting will also be to strengthen the Czech-American partnership. Fiala also wants to talk to Biden about economic relations or nuclear energy.
National Security Adviser Tomáš Pojar told journalists today that this is a standard visit that testifies to the good relations between the two countries. “There are few countries in Central Europe that have such good relations with the US, it’s only Poland and us,” he stated. He wants to present the Czech Republic there not as a poor country from the East, but as a partner whose citizens employ people in America and invest.
After visiting the White House, Fiala will meet compatriots who live and work in the USA for a long time. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to speak at the Hudson Institute, a think tank focused primarily on national security and foreign policy issues.
He will then hold talks in Congress with House Speaker Johnson and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin. Before leaving the USA, they will also honor the memory of Václav Havel and Tomáš Garrigu Masaryk. Havel has a bust in Congress and Masaryk a statue in the diplomatic quarter.
The announcement of Fiala’s acceptance, which was published by the spokeswoman of the American head of state in mid-March, came almost exactly five years after the Czech prime minister’s last visit to the White House. The then Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) was welcomed in Washington in 2019 by former US President Donald Trump.
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Blesk: On Sunday, you are flying to the USA, where you are supposed to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. What do you expect from this trip?
Fiala: “It is an important visit and it has two levels. One is symbolic-political. It is proof of the excellent relations between the USA and the Czech Republic. The symbolism is certainly also in the fact that we recently proudly commemorated 25 years of our membership in NATO. The second level is concrete, we will discuss security cooperation and I want to debate economic cooperation.”
What do you want to offer Americans in the field of business, and what do you want to get from them?
“Political visits serve to identify new areas in which we can cooperate: energy, industry, cyber security and many other things. When I talk about energy, we want to cooperate with everyone who develops nuclear energy. The United States is one of the leaders, and we are preparing a memorandum of cooperation.”
Does the invitation to the White House also apply to your lady Jana?
“At the moment—as usual—it’s designed as a business meeting, so it should be wife-free.”
