Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Thursday, May 18, 2023
BERLIN – The first trip abroad by incoming Slovakian Prime Minister Ludovit Odor will take him to Germany and not to the Czech Republic as has been customary, the government office in Bratislava announced on Thursday.
Odor, who heads a technocrat government and served as deputy governor of the National Bank of Slovakia until his appointment as prime minister, is to attend an event marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
At the event he will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European leaders.
Slovakian media noted that Odor was parting with a 30-year tradition in making Germany his first foreign destination.
Since Czechoslovakia split at the beginning of 1993, heads of state and government in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia have made their first and last visit to each other.
As recently as March this year, Czech President Petr Pavel endorsed this tradition during his visit to Bratislava shortly after being sworn in as evidence of the close relationship between the two countries.
