(ANSA) - PRAGUE, July 25 - Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) wants to reduce the expected costs for the Czech presidency of the EU in 2022 to about 50m euros, that is the lowest budget of all member countries. The Czech Radio website reported today. According to Babis, this amount corresponds to one-third of the budget initially requested by the respective ministries and institutions. "The priority of our government is saving public money," said Babis. Currently, the budget plans to send 58 Czech diplomats to Brussels to strengthen the diplomatic mission during the rotating presidency. Slovakia during the recent presidency has increased the number of diplomats in Brussels from 87 to 220. "We are already saving but of course not at the cost of not being able to properly address the important issues for the Czech Republic", said diplomacy chief Tomas Petricek (SD). According to the Denik N daily newspaper, the prime minister had compared the EU presidency to "a huge and expensive canapé feast" in March.

(ANSA).