Archive: Foreign policy | Diplomacy

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is currently on an official visit to Israel, meeting with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and has high hopes for strengthening what he says is a “strategic partnership”. I asked Irena Kalhousová, an expert on Czech-Israeli relations from the London School of Economics, what makes the relationship special.

Among those following developments in Venezuela with avid interest are Venezuelan emigres who have made a new life in the Czech Republic. For many of them Juan Guaido represents new hope that they will one day be able to return home. Czech Radio spoke to three Venezuelans about their take on the current developments, their fears for the present and hopes for the future.

Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček is due to visit Washington this month to discuss a bilateral and global issues with the U.S. secretaries of state and defence, and President Trump’s national security advisor. Cybersecurity issues – not least concerning Chinese telecoms giant Huawei – are high on the Czech agenda. So too is securing an invitation to the White House.

The European Union and the United Kingdom must do their utmost to negotiate an agreement on Brexit, Angela Merkel said during a meeting with prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries in Bratislava on Thursday. The German Chancellor believes that both parties would benefit from an orderly exit of the United Kingdom.

Angela Merkel and the leaders of the V4 countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, also discussed the EU budget for the period from 2021 to 2027 and the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.

President Miloš Zeman on Wednesday invited the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, to visit the Czech Republic, and congratulated the National Assembly leader on assuming the provisional office.

The gesture, announced by the president’s spokesman, came two days after the Czech government recognized Mr Guaidó as the legitimate leader of the South American country until free and transparent elections are called.

President Zeman noting that this year is the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and collapse of the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, said in the invitation, “I hope that your transition to democracy will succeed”.

Mr Guaidó took the presidential oath on January 23 after the National Assembly failed to recognize the second term of incumbent Nicolás Madura, who won re-election last year in a vote that international observers said was clearly rigged.

The Czech government has recognized Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, as the legitimate leader of his country pending elections. The proposal was put forward by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been advocating for the European Union to take a united stand.

During a trip to Washington, the Czech foreign minister, Tomáš Petříček, will discuss the possibility of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš meeting President Donald Trump at the White House, Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday. Mr. Petříček will raise the matter with his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo, in late February.

Mr. Petříček told Hospodářské noviny that the Czech authorities’ stance toward Chinese telecoms giant Huawei had helped to bring about the possible meeting with Mr. Trump, which is mooted for this spring.

Organisations crucial to the running of the Czech state have been ordered to review their use of Huawei products in view of a potential security risk. The US authorities have accused the Chinese firm of the theft of technology and other crimes.

One of the important points on Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček’s agenda during his two-day visit to Ukraine has been the strengthening of economic relations. While bilateral trade sank significantly in the immediate period following the 2014 revolution, it has been growing steadily since 2016 and now lies at nearly EUR 2 billion per year.

Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček has been meeting local leaders on a two-day visit to Ukraine. He has held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart and announced the creation of a special Czech-Ukrainian forum, as well as visiting the blockaded port city of Mariupol in the east of the country.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš wants to promote his country’s relations with India to a strategic partnership. He said so in an opening speech at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar, where he also met with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.