Archive: Foreign policy | Diplomacy

The US decision to pull out of the United Nations Human Rights Council means that the Czech Republic is losing an important partner in protection of human rights and freedoms, Irena Valentová of the Czech Foreign Ministry’s press department told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the Czech Republic shares some of Washington’s concerns over the functioning of the council, but it wants to remain a member to take part in its reform.

The US on Wednesday withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it hypocritical and self-serving and accusing it of political bias against Israel.

The leader of the Social Democrats, Jan Hamáček, is due to discuss cabinet positions with the ANO prime minister-designate Andrej Babiš on Tuesday evening. The parties are planning to enter a minority coalition propped up by the Communists. However, Mr. Babiš has rejected the Social Democrats nominee for minister of foreign affairs, Miroslav Poche.

Mr. Babiš has not revealed his own party’s list of candidates for ministerial portfolios and Mr. Hamáček said he would be keen to hear those names from the ANO leader. The Social Democrats leader says he hopes to resolve the dispute over Mr. Poche within a week.

President Miloš Zeman and the Communists are also against the appointment of Mr. Poche as foreign policy chief.

Prime Minister-designate Andrej Babiš presented his proposed new cabinet line-up to the Czech president for approval on Sunday, two days after the centre-left Social Democrats agreed – following a party referendum – to join Mr Babiš’s centrist ANO party in a coalition government. But the political uncertainty is not over, with the foreign minister nomination proving controversial.

President Miloš Zeman may hold the key to resovling the situation surrounding the Social Democrats’ nomination of Miroslav Poche for foreign minister, according to top party members quoted by the news website Novinky.cz.

The Social Democrats insist Mr. Poche get the post, despite opposition from potential coalition partners ANO, the Communists, who would support such a government, and Mr. Zeman.

Social Democrats deputy chairman Roman Onderka said that party boss Jan Hamáček cannot replace Mr. Poche as his nomination has been approved by the leadership.

Mr. Poche is due to hold talks with President Zeman, who reportedly plans to tell him to step aside. Mr. Onderka said that meeting may shed light on a possible way forward, adding that it could lead to talks between the head of state and the leaders of ANO and the Social Democrats.

Senior Social Democrat Milan Štěch says the party should pull out of a deal with ANO to form a coalition if it is broken before it can even come into effect. The speaker of the Senate was responding to ANO leader Andrej Babiš’s refusal of the Social Democrats’ nominee for the post of foreign minister, Miroslav Poche.

Mr. Babiš said ANO would not accept Mr. Poche just after the membership of the Social Democrats voted in an internal ballot to enter a minority coalition with ANO.

Such a government would be backed by the Communists, who also reject Mr. Poche as foreign minister. President Miloš Zeman is likewise opposed to the MEP’s nomination.

The chairman of the Social Democrats, Jan Hamáček, says Mr. Babiš had been aware that Mr. Poche was their candidate. Mr. Hamáček says his party have done all they can to reach a coalition deal and have no room to make further concessions.

Foreign Minister Martin Stropnický on Friday handed out Gratias Agit awards to Czech expatriates and foreigners for promoting the good name of the Czech Republic abroad.

Among this year’s recipients were three Russians who in 1968 protested against the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia, paying a high price for their courage and solidarity.

Tatyana Bayeva, Pavel Litvinov and Viktor Fajnberg are the last three surviving protesters of a group of eight who staged a protest on Moscow’s Red Square. They were punished by severe jail sentences or locked up in psychiatric institutions.

Other laureates of the Gratias Agit Awards are physician Watheq Al-Qsous from Jordan who is the chief coordinator of the government’s medical aid program Medevac which has helped thousands of Syrian refugees, Estanislao Kocourek, an architect of Czech origin and the builder of the first high-rise buildings to appear in Buenos Aires and Jiri Šíma one of the leading experts in the field of water management and environmental protection who has been applying his experience in Ethiopia, South Africa and Namibia.

President Miloš Zeman says Social Democrats leader Jan Hamáček went back on an agreement between the two to not nominate Miroslav Poche as minister of foreign affairs in a possible coalition with ANO. Speaking on TV on Thursday evening, Mr. Zeman said that Mr. Poche – whom he called an amateur – cast doubt on two pillars of Czech foreign policy: opposition to EU quotas on migrants and a pro-Israel policy.

Mr. Poche is one of five members of his party in line to take ministerial portfolios in a possible minority coalition with ANO. The Social Democrats are currently conducting an internal ballot on whether to enter such a government.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern over the re-election of leftist authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela’s presidential election at the weekend. The ministry joined widespread international condemnation of election irregularities, intimidation of political opponents and violations of human rights.

Government ministers have stopped taking part in international trips with Czech entrepreneurs and this could cost the latter in terms of deals, a number of business chambers said in a statement to the Czech News Agency on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce, Miroslav Diro, said Czech firms could lose out to rivals from other states when it comes to import and export opportunities. Mr. Diro said the minister of finance and minister of industry and trade often helped open doors for his group’s members internationally.

The acting prime minister, Andrej Babiš, has in the past said that the state is not a travel agency. He said the country should be represented by diplomats, who are paid for that service, abroad.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern over the result of Venezuela’s presidential election in which leftist authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro defended his post on Sunday.

In a statement issued on Monday the ministry said the election lacked fundamental democratic elements, opposition parties and organizations have been under permanent pressure and there have been persistent violations of human rights in the country.

It called on Venezuela’s government to launch a constructive dialogue with the opposition, release all political prisoners and respect human rights and freedoms.