Czech and Turkish foreign ministers discussed the situation in Ukraine and NATO enlargement

The Foreign Ministers focused especially on the current situation in Ukraine, perspectives of tackling the Russian aggression, and global food security. Turkish initiative to create a corridor that would allow export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports blocked by Russia is one of the ways forward. Minister Lipavský highlighted the Czech government’s steps to help Ukraine, including arms supplies and assistance to Ukrainian refugees.

Another prominent topic of the meeting was the upcoming NATO summit and the issue of NATO enlargement. “I am convinced that the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will represent a symbol of unity with which the Western democracies are facing the Russian aggression, but at the same time it will strengthen the Alliance’s defense capabilities,” the Czech minister stated.

Apart from the international situation, the ministers also discussed the bilateral Czech-Turkish relations and the EU-Türkiye relations. “Türkiye is one of our key trading partners outside of the EU. Therefore, we also discussed our economic and trade cooperation, which has the annual turnover of more than four billion EUR,” said Lipavský. The Czech Minister also promised that if the conditions set by the European Council are met, the upcoming Czech EU Presidency would do its best to promote a positive development in relations between the EU and Türkiye, an EU candidate country.