Brussels, 28/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Czech Republic has come back into line. At the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday 27 July, Prague said that it wanted to avoid any crisis with Canada, which recently decided unilaterally to re-introduce visa requirements for Czech citizens. “We do not want to solve the situation through a conflict and we do to want to turn the issue in to a crisis,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout. After the meeting, the Swedish Presidency said that the Czech Republic had the support of the other EU member states, and that it was now up to the European Commission to try to find a solution to the problem (see EUROPE 9949). Kohout tried to pour oil on the troubled waters of the controversy which has been growing for several days, for example, with Prague's threat, in violation of Community law, to re-introduce visas for Canadian citizens (though visa requirements for diplomats have been re-introduced, since this is a national area of competence). He noted that Canada was an important partner for the Czech Republic, the European Union and also the ally of the many countries within the NATO alliance. “The goal is not to introduce visas for Canada, but to attain the situation that existed still in the morning of July 13, that is, when visa-free relations with Canada were still in force,” he added, stating that many countries from old and new Europe had come out I support of the Czech Republic. European Affairs Minister Stefan Fuele added, “The strongest weapon is if the Union backs one of its members and if it talks in one voice”. (B.C./transl.rt)