Minister of State and Member of the German Bundestag Werner Hoyer is travelling to the Czech Republic on Friday, 8 October.

In Prague, Minister of State Hoyer will meet, amongst others, the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and his Representative on European Affairs Vladímir Galuška for talks on European issues.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the German-Czech Historians Commission, he will also meet the joint Presidents of the Commission, Professor Schulze-Wessel (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich) and Professor Řezník (TU Chemnitz). He will go on to attend the opening session of this year’s Annual Meeting of the German-Czech Discussion Forum.

In this connection State Minister Hoyer issued the following statement today in Berlin:

“I am very much looking forward to the exchange of views with the Czech Foreign Minister, Mr Schwarzenberg, and Representative on European affairs Vladímir Galuška.

The Czech Republic is one of Germany’s key partners in Central Europe. We have a shared history stretching back over many centuries, not to mention strong economic links. My trip will help further intensify our political relations, which are better today than they have ever been.

My talks with representatives of the German-Czech Historians Commission and the German-Czech Discussion Forum show just how important these two institutions are for German-Czech relations. The Historians Commission is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. This provides a welcome opportunity to pay tribute to the contribution this body has made to objectively researching our shared history.”