Studio ČT24 | European Commission chief Leyen to visit Prague

Žiga Faktor, head of the Brussels office of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, commented in Studio ČT24 on the planned meeting between European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Czech President Petr Pavel.

Petr Pavel wants to push for the opening of accession talks with Ukraine this year. Is it realistic that it will succeed? It will be a very difficult question, and it can be seen, for example, from the bans on grain imports to Poland, Slovakia and others, which these countries have imposed on Ukraine in recent weeks, that the position, however politically one-sided it may have been, will become a much more pressing issue when we start talking about key policies and what the impact on those member states will actually be. I myself believe that by the end of the year those talks will start.

You can listen to the full analysis from Studio ČT24 here (only in Czech).