Czech-Bavarian pragmatism needed

Horst Seehofer will make an official visit to Prague this weekend, marking the first visit by a premier of the German state of Bavaria since the end of World War II. Up to now the representation of Bavarian interests regarding the Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after 1945 has hindered such a visit. The time for pragmatism has finally come, the business paper Hospodářské noviny comments: "Czech-Bavarian relations go back further than the handshake between the two premiers in Prague. Much has already been achieved at a practical level in the past decades. Yet both sides were cautious in preparing for the visit. ... This direct dialogue can be a good thing for both Prague and Munich. It wasn't normal that the political debate took place only in the media for over half a century. ... It is now up to [Czech Prime Minister] Petr Nečas and Horst Seehofer to see through the start at the highest political level without nervousness and in a spirit of pragmatism."

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