After meeting Sobotka today, Seehofer announces opening Bavaria’s representation in Prague this year

Prague, July 3 (ČTK) – Bavaria will open its representation in Prague this year, Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer stated after meeting Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in Prague today.

Bavarian European Affairs Minister Beate Merk told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) the representation will be seated in the historical center of the city near Old Town Square.

Seehofer said the date of the opening is not yet known, as the building must yet be reconstructed.

Sobotka explained that the new Bavarian center will help intensify the relations between the two neighboring countries, which were tense for many years over different views of the post-war history and the transfer of Sudeten Germans, and help coordinate cooperation of Bavarian and Czech institutions.

He said he believed it might also be a platform where business companies would meet.

Bavaria will be the second German federal state bordering on the Czech Republic to have its official representation in Prague. Saxony opened its representation two years ago.

Seehofer and Sobotka are to open the Bavarian representation together.

Bavaria and the Czech Republic signed a declaration on closer cooperation in education, science and research today. Seehofer and Sobotka spoke of the need to improve the train connection between Prague, Munich and Nuremberg.

They also discussed fighting against organized crime, especially in the production and distribution of drugs, and the plan of a joint land exhibition focusing on Bavarians and Czechs living together for centuries in the region, which would be organised in 2016-17.