Czech citizens and companies in the UK do not have to fear Brexit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis (ANO) in a phone call today, Babis has tweeted.
Babis invited Johnson to Prague. While in the Czech Republic, he may meet other representatives of the Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland).
"He said our country is excellent, he knows it, he has relationships here and it does not have to fear at all for the fate of our people in Britain or the business of our companies there. We are allies," Babis said.
"I invited him to Prague and I think that our V4 counterparts will join this. I will ask them," Babis. He also spoke with Irish Foreign Simon Coveney about Brexit today.
Babis said they had agreed Britain's no-deal Brexit would pose a big problem both for the Czech Republic and Ireland.
"Naturally, we are on the same ship, hoping that we will eventually arrive at an agreement with the UK," Babis has tweeted.
Johnson wants the Irish backstop to be withdrawn from the original deal. It is to prevent the creation of checks on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected any major changes in the deal.
In the event of the no-deal Brexit, Czech companies might lose about 30 billion crowns, Lukas Martin, a senior official of the Confederation of Industry, told CTK some time ago.
The Czech economy would lose some tens of billion crowns more due to the lower corporate investments, Martin said.
This year, the Czech parliament passed a law granting the same rights in some spheres to Britons living in the Czech Republic as if they were still EU citizens until the end of next year if there is the no-deal Brexit.
British ambassador to Prague, Nick Archer, said the step was generous, adding that London was accepting reciprocal measures ensuring the Czechs' rights in Britain.
($1=23.199 crowns)
