June 17 (CTK special correspondent in London) – Tens of thousands of Czechs studying or working in Britain and their fate after Britain leaves the EU were on the agenda of the conversation at the roughly 30-minute audience British Queen Elizabeth II gave to President Milos Zeman yesterday.
The British Queen does not decide directly on the affair, but her view and, above all, sympathies, are vital, Zeman said.
The audience, which was Zeman’s third meeting with the British Queen, was attended by his wife Ivana Zemanova and daughter Katerina.
Zeman said his daughter studied in Britain, being a “symbol of British-Czech cooperation.”
Zeman told journalists he had offered a “brief outline of the history of Czech-British relations” from the Middle Ages to the present to the British Queen.
“After the overview, I asked her for support so that Czechs citizens are not discriminated against in comparison with the previous state,” Zeman said.
Zeman said according to estimates, Brexit would touch upon 50,000-100,000 Czech citizens working or studying in Britain.
“Whatever the real figure, every politician must primarily express an interest in our citizens being able to work and study and not being discriminated against compared with the situation when Britain was still an EU member,” Zeman said.
He said he was not about to defend those who were only on the welfare in Britain.
“I have in mind the people who work or study here. They deserve to be advocated by Czech politicians,” Zeman said.
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Title picture: By The Co-operative [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
