Shortly after the inauguration of the new Czech president and on the occasion of his first trip to Slovakia, Slovak Denník N and Czech Denník N organized the first debate between Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and Czech President Petr Pavlo in the Slovak National Theatre.
The editor-in-chief of Denník N Matúš Kostolný and the editor-in-chief of Denník N Pavel Tomášek moderated.
Here is a transcript of the entire discussion.
Pavel Tomášek, Diary N: Madam President, when your co-workers, who then joined Mr. Pavlo and helped him in the campaign, left you, did they immediately tell you why they were leaving?
Zuzana Čaputová: At the beginning, the agreement was mainly on one colleague; we are talking about Martin Burgr, who accompanied me through the campaign as a key person. At the same time, he worked for me for a while. When he was boarding, he told me that he had such prospects. For me, it was perfectly understandable that he was going to do it for Mr. President Pavle.
Pavel Tomasek: When did you personally learn that Mr. Pavel was planning a presidential candidacy? Was it directly from him?
Zuzana Čaputová: No, it was from a mutual colleague of ours who got an offer to work on his campaign. It was quite a while ago, given that the president had been preparing the campaign for quite a long time.
Peter Paul: It was before I knew it.
Matúš Kostolny, Journal N: Mr. President, what does it mean for you, weeks later, that the President came to see you right on election day?
Peter Paul: Very briefly: an extremely pleasant surprise not only for me, but for the whole hall; the atmosphere was as if a rock star had arrived.
Video: Presidential Debate N – Zuzana Čaputová and Petr Pavel
Pavel Tomasek: Madam President, when you traveled to Prague on the day of the second round of the Czech presidential election with the intention of congratulating Mr. Pavlov on his election, did you expect that if things did not go well for him, you would also stop by Andrej Babiš’s staff and congratulate him on his election?
Zuzana Čaputová: It seems to be the second one