Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toşimitsu met with the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group during his visit to Slovakia. ^[1] Alena Schillerová, the Czech Republic’s Minister of Finance, declared on 2026-08-31 that the 2027 state budget would run a deficit of 389 billion Czech crown (CZK), saying that this had no alternative and without it the nation would suffer economic stagnation. ^[2] Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš did not remain in the Chamber of Deputies to explain the proposed 389 billion CZK deficit; instead he flew the same day, 2026-08-31, to the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia. ^[3] Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toşimitsu and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski agreed to coordinate support for Ukraine's reconstruction. ^[4] The ministers reached an agreement to encourage cooperation between the Tokyo government and the Visegrad Group in the field of advanced technology. ^[5] Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek wrote on social media on 2026-08-31 that Andrej Babiš had fled to Bled with cowardice instead of staying in Prague to defend a “mad” deficit figure, suggesting the headline should read: “Cowardly fled to Bled!”. ^[6] Representatives of the Czech opposition parties rejected the 389 billion CZK deficit on 2026-08-31 as irresponsible and called it a political crime, warning it would push up interest from the state debt and drag down the living standard of citizens. ^[7] Motegi and Sikorski agreed to collaborate on developing critical technologies for economic security with the European Union and other like-minded countries. ^[8]