Weekly Briefing, Vol. 13, No. 4 (CZ), December 2018
The Czech Republic – External relations briefing: developments in 2018
- The new priorities of Czech Foreign Policy
- Migration and Cooperation in the Visegrad Group
- Brexit
The new priorities of Czech Foreign Policy
Mr. Tomáš Petříček (Czech Social Democratic Party) was appointed as a new Minister of Foreign Affairs almost four months after negotiations and the forming of new Czech cabinet in 2018. The previous government of the Czech Republic endorsed a new Concept of the Czech Republic’s Foreign Policy on July 13, 2015[1]. The approved concept defined three global goals which are security, prosperity and sustainable development, and human dignity including human rights; and two national goals: service to its citizens and reputation of the Czech Republic abroad. Mr. Petříček presented new priorities and principles of the Czech Foreign policy for the next years. He pointed out that it should have continuity with post 1989 orientation on democratic West, the EU and NATO. This orientation symbolises values as freedom, human rights, state based on law but also solidarity and responsibility. At the same time the Czech Foreign policy should face new challenges and have coherence. It should be understandable, predictable and unified. The Czech Foreign policy should be consensual in broader political spectrum but should also include civil society, business, academic sphere, social partners, media and other groupes. Mr. Petříček emphasized importance of The Global strategy for the foreign and security policy of the European Union, for short the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS), that was updated in 2016 to improve the effectiveness of the defence and security of the EU and its member states. Mr. Petříček said that our involvement in the European Union (EU), NATO, the UN, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other multilateral structures contribute to national security and prosperity, as well as to the preservation of the liberal-democratic constitutional architecture. The Czech Republic is a small country in a global context and a medium-sized country on European scale. The European Union provides an underlying framework for Czech foreign policy to be put into effect. The Czech Republic should finish ratification of Fiscal compact (as the only EU member state besides the UK).
One pillar of Czech Foreign policy is regional cooperation and orientation on Central European Countries in V4 format. Second pillar remains without any real alternative euro-atlantic cooperation based on strong and prosperous the EU. NATO is important key for our security. This cooperation is declared as important for the whole liberal world order. Until 2024 The Czech Republic (CR) should strenghten security budget up to 2 % GDP. Relations with Germany deepened thanks to the signing of the Strategic Dialogue which is still waiting for its adequate implementation. We are open for Balkan countries and Eastern partnerhip and we will support their effort to become the full member of the EU. Third pillar of The Czech Foreign policy is orientation on multilateral liberal world order with responsibility and rules. Good example of the CR support of multilateralism are our activities in the UN especially our membership in the board of the UN for human rights that are the key value. But there are new topics and accents in the CR foreign policy: stronger support for shared global challenges that are articulated in Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) – declaration of aims presented by the UN for next years. Important part of this programme is decreasing of social inequalities, struggle with climate change, sufficiency of drinking water, energy or responsible production and consumption. Our aim is dignity for all people that could be realised in activities of multilateral organisations. The Czech Republic is supporting policy concerning energetic-climatic security and independence in energy sphere.
For the period 2018–2023, development cooperation programmes are concluded with six countries, three from the OECD/DAC category of least developed countries (Cambodia, Ethiopia, Zambia), three from middle income countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova). Support for global sustainable development is also important for national security. The Czech Republic should support development aid especially in regions of crisis in Africa that is a continent of risks and oportunities. Except of demografic growth, danger of epidemies, poverty, corruption, is the main problem migration. We should invest to education, creation of new job opportunities and support of economic development people from Africa have perspective in their own countries. Good example in this respect is Etiopia. To reach those aims we need cooperation of members of the EU and the UN. We should understand and solve problems in global context, not in isolation or separately.
The CR will support Japan as liberal democracy which should become our strategic partner, but also Canada, Australia and India. Activities in the Eastern Partnership framework, which have been declared a priority for the Czech Republic, have not intensified. Even though the Czech Republic officially supported the sanctions, the Russian question became a polarizing subject in the relationship between the government and the president. It will be important to monitor the ongoing reform efforts in Ukraine, also with regard to the forthcoming presidential election. Ukraine is a country which has received support from the Czech Republic for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russian foreign policy will not see any major changes. The Middle East will remain an environment of instability. Iran will be driven by its ambition to reconfigure the power distribution in the region. Interventions in the Syrian conflict will persist, causing its protraction.
Our relation towards China must be open, pragmatic and stable. The Czech Republic will seek regular political dialogue with China, enabling it to foster cooperation in a number of areas, including the economy, the health sector, environmental protection, science and research, culture and human rights. Besides bilateral relations, the frontline framework for dialogue with China is the strategic partnership established between the EU and the People’s Republic of China.
The Czech Republic, with its open economy, ranks among the world’s 40 wealthiest countries. The CR is developed export-oriented social market economy based in services, manufacturing and innovations with the bulk of exports headed for the European Union. In this light, global needs and trends, and especially external demand for Czech goods and services, have a significant impact on the country’s prosperity. The Czech Republic aspires to an open and predictable international economic order based on clear and fair rules.
The three important “C“ are: Continuity, Coherence and Consensus and key is also cooperation between countries in Central Europe, euroatlantic partners and liberal multilateral world. Foreign policy should reflect our values: freedom, democracy, human rights, human dignity, solidarity, and responsibility – it means principles our democracy restored by Velvet revolution in November 1989.
Migration and Cooperation in the Visegrad Group
One of the main topics in previous years in the EU was migration. With the arrival of “the migration crisis“, turned into “Visegradization” of Central European policy. During the Czech presidency of the EU in 2015-16, the Visegrad Group (V4) was labelled, for its lack of solidarity, as an uncooperative actor by the EU. The CR accented the subject of relocation quotas. This rhetoric contributed to an unprecedented loss of confidence in the EU on the part of the Czech public. Migration has also become one of the key themes of both parliamentary and presidential elections, though it was largely reduced to tough statements or proclamations without any follow-up in the form of concrete proposals. The Czech Republic has devoted a substantial part of its energy and political capital to not accepting any asylum seekers both in EU resettlement programme, which made it subject to action before the EU Court of Justice, and through any voluntary initiatives. In addition, the government emphasized its position in a redundant resolution, which was supported almost across the political spectrum.
BREXIT
In the referendum in 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. The UK government‘s vision for future relationship with the EU emerged only in July 2018. The price for it were conflicts and tensions within the Conservative Party and a departure of key cabinet ministers over disagreements on the so-called soft Brexit. Brexit negotiations were marked by the long-term inconsistency of Prime Minister May‘s government. A few months before the UK is to leave the EU the circumstances under which the Brexit will take place are still not clear. In the UK live about 3 million of the EU citizens, 100 thousand of them are the Czechs. On the opposite side are 1 million the Briton in the EU. In February 2017, leaders of Czech parliamentary political parties issued a joint declaration on the talks on the UK‘s leaving the European Union. The document emphasizes the need to maintain the EU‘s and UK‘s political, economic and security relations as close as possible, taking due account of the expectations of Czech nationals and companies operating in the UK. The joint statement is broadly general, but it can be seen as an example of a good practice of uniting positions to key issues of Czech European policy. The government‘s statement made in April 2017 followed the joint declaration, and emphasized the need to preserve unity of position of the EU27 on the subject. It also dominated the first stage of the negotiations, in which the EU27 acted as a single block and negotiated guarantees for EU citizens settled in the United Kingdom and the issue of financial compensation. In both cases, the interests of the Czech Republic were respected. However, the question of the regime on the North-Irish border remains unsolved. The absence of a clear solution to this question may still cause the negotiations to ultimately collapse.
[1] See https://www.mzv.cz/file/1574645/Concept_of_the_Czech_Republic_s_Foreign_Policy.pdf