Politicians hope Čaputová will not undermine Visegrad unity

Some Czech politicians have expressed concern about the unity of the Visegrad group following the election of lawyer Zuzana Čaputová Slovakia’s next president.

President Miloš Zeman said via his spokesman that he hoped that bilateral relations and cooperation within the Visegrad Four would remain above-standard. The Czech president said ahead of the vote that the election of Čaputová’s opponent Maroš Šefčovič would be a guarantee of continuing close cooperation within the Visegrad group.

Civic Democratic Party deputy chair Martin Kupka said in a televised debate on Sunday that he hoped Zuzana Čaputová would communicate better with the ruling party Smer than the present head of state Andrej Kiska.

"The V4 is an important instrument in defending our interests in the EU and we need to preserve it," Kupka said. Czech politicians have been particularly concerned about this because of Brexit, since Britain was seen as a close ally in opposing federalist tendencies.