Weekly Briefing, Vol. 65. No. 4 (CZ) September 2023
Czech Diplomacy in Search of Pragmatism within Value-Based Foreign Policy
Summary
The political representation is trying to seek pragmatic approaches within its value-based foreign policy. Even though the official narrative embodies a hardline policy in relation to both Beijing and Moscow, some statements by relevant actors from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicate that radical decoupling from China, inclusive of the withdrawal from the 14+1, and complete suspension of relations with Russia do not belong to the preferred scenarios. The briefing conducts a content analysis of recent speeches delivered by President Petr Pavel and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský against the background of the hegemonic discourse.
Introduction
The Czech diplomacy continues to develop the government value-based foreign policy based on the Western conception of human rights, transatlantic partnership and countering global “authoritarianism”. This agenda has been recently presented at different forums both in the Czech Republic and abroad. At the same time, the ostensible consensus on the goals of foreign policy among individual high-level political actors has been undermined by divergences regarding some important topics such as China and Russia. While a part of the ruling coalition advocates radical hardline policies, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský has shown traces of moderation and realism.
The president at the UN General Assembly
On the occasion of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, President Petr Pavel announced that the Czech Republic would stand as a candidate for non-permanent membership of the Security Council in 2032–2033 to demonstrate the country’s ambition to be an active international player. Indeed, Prague has played an important role in the war in Ukraine and advocates a radical value-based approach to international issues, which contributed to its election as a member state of the UN Human Rights Council instead of Russia. In his speech in New York, Pavel replicated the official narrative about the conflict in Eastern Europe, blaming Moscow for the outbreak of the war. From his perspective, Russia has violated the fundamental principles of the UN and has committed war crimes. He reiterated the need for an unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine as well as Crimea, assured the Ukrainian side that the Czech support including the military one would last as long as necessary and appealed to other leaders for joining the active assistance to Kiev.
Presenting his perspective on regional issues, Petr Pavel commented on several problems and mentioned concrete countries. But, overall, the choice demonstrated one-sidedness and a substantial lack of balance. The Czech president addressed the security, humanitarian and political crises in the Sahel region in general, going on to Asia-Pacific inclusive of China and North Korea and ending with Iran and the Middle East as a whole. The focus on China, Iran, North Korea and Russia indicates his allegiance to the dividing and confrontational discourse about the need to counter “autocracies” with remnants of George W. Bush’s notorious concept of “axis of evil”, which is not so surprising when it comes to the former high-level representative of NATO. It is more than obvious that the retired army general perceives these countries as imminent threats, accusing them of undermining international security and supporting Russia in her conflict with Ukraine and the political West as such.
Moreover, Petr Pavel reiterated his criticism of China and warned against Beijing’s possible military actions in the region implicitly. Of course, the highest constitutional representative omitted NATO’s rising activities in Asia-Pacific, militarisation on the part of the US and its attempts to orchestrate coalitions against China, violations of international law by Israel or the stabilising role of China in Afghanistan and relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is far from surprising that the Czech president put these facts aside, for they do not correspond with the political goal of maintaining Western hegemony over the decisive international structures and global order in its entirety. Concluding his speech in the General Assembly, he addressed “efforts of authoritarian regimes to re-define core principles of multilateral order”.[1] However, the opposite is true, since genuine multilateralism requires as wide inclusivity as possible, giving equal voice to all members of the global community without discrimination, marginalisation and defamation. Genuine multilateralism requires democratisation of international relations, which is in stark contrast to the Western concept of rules-based order which has become a cornerstone of the hegemonic discourse that is being (unsuccessfully) imposed on others.
The foreign minister’s address to diplomats
The president’s narrative coincided with a speech delivered by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský at a meeting of the Czech diplomats in Prague in late August. The main topic which the head of national diplomacy wanted to convey to his subordinates was the conflict between liberal democracies on one hand and Russia and other actors on the other. It is important to note that Lipavský interprets the war in Ukraine through this prism of a global struggle. It helps to explain the radical character of the official Czech position which encompasses the domestic historical experience with its complexes and injustice along with Russophobia, revived moralism (value-based approach) and universalist aspirations of the Western internal and external model, that is, liberal democracy and rules-based international order. The foreign minister put forward a narrative of a centuries-long conflict between Europe, based on the “idea of a free citizen”, and Russia whose system has always been antagonistic in relation to the Western civilisation. He supplemented it with a concept of “Putinism” which allegedly combines “imperialism” with “Orthodox mysticism” and “practices of the KGB and mafia”.
Obviously, the making of an image of the enemy has reached its apogee in this regard. It is, therefore, far from surprising that Prague has strived to convince other countries to exclude Russia from international organisations and isolate the major power as much as possible. However, the Western politicians then cannot be surprised or outraged by the increasingly close interaction between Moscow, Pyongyang and Tehran. Their cooperation is a pragmatic reaction to Western hegemonism and aims to counter the existing pressure and sanctions in a more efficient way. As far as China is concerned, it has been getting closer to the abovementioned trio from Lipavský’s point of view. Speaking to the Czech diplomats, he put emphasis on the alleged risks and threats posed by the socialist major power. The head of diplomacy perceives it particularly as a “systemic rival” rather than a partner and economic competitor. Such a perception is connected with the conviction that Beijing seeks to change the global order in a way that is incompatible with “Western values”. In this regard, Lipavský referred to the Sino-Russian partnership which allegedly posed an imminent threat while the “annexation” of Taiwan being a medium-term threat.[2]
“Sustainable relations” with China
This geopolitical overview was accompanied by a perspective on related issues and the impacts of geopolitical competition on the world economy and other exchanges. The Czech foreign minister argues that the existing model of globalisation is being over, which will cause additional expenses, for it leads to lower economic efficiency and profitability. Lipavský emphasised that economic interests had to be supplemented with security aspects, which applied to supply chains, energy sector, cyberspace and a wide array of other areas. The incumbent government has an ambition to promote the liberal democratic discourse on human rights and security in new domains so as to prevent other perspectives from being accepted. It is clear as day that the official attitude is based on the narrative of “digital authoritarianism”. The government will follow the directions and agenda set by such agencies as the Global Engagement Center of the US Department of State which has recently published a report on the “digital and information threat” posed by China.[3]
Nowadays, Prague is carrying out a revision of relations with China. The government and other state bodies have suspended a large part of mutual projects and the ruling coalition has even challenged the country’s participation in the 14+1 mechanism. Nonetheless, it seems that the government will not dare to exit the mechanism. Even though the foreign minister repeatedly declared that the Czech Republic had no benefits from the participation, he has changed his mind, considering the present status quo “sustainable”. Similarly, one of the high-level officials of the ministry has recently announced that Prague is interested in economic cooperation with China despite the need for mitigating possible risks emerging from an excessive dependence on strategic raw materials and other items from the socialist country.[4] Such statements indicate that the political representation is aware of the negative effects of decoupling from China and maintains at least a basic level of realism in its considerations.
Conclusion
Notwithstanding the ideology-driven hardline attitude towards both China and Russia, the government resists accepting the most radical positions which have appeared among the coalition politicians. The foreign minister insists on sending a new Czech ambassador to Moscow despite opposition from the president, the speaker of the lower chamber Markéta Pekarová Adamová or the head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies Marek Ženíšek.[5] Even though Jan Lipavský has actively promoted anti-Russian policies, he has shown higher degree of pragmatism than many other government politicians.
[1] The Speech of the President of the Czech Republic at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (2023, September 19). Prague Castle. https://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/current-president-of-the-cr/public-addresses-and-interviews/the-speech-of-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-at-the-78th-session-of-the-un-general-assembly-17351
[2] Projev ministra Lipavského na poradě vedoucích zastupitelských úřadů 2023 (2023, August 28). Ministerstvo zahraničí České republiky. https://www.mzv.cz/jnp/cz/o_ministerstvu/archivy/clanky_a_projevy_ministru/clanky_a_projevy_ministra/projev_ministra_lipavskeho_na_porade_vzu.html
[3] Global Engagement Center Special Report: How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment (2023, September 28). U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/gec-special-report-how-the-peoples-republic-of-china-seeks-to-reshape-the-global-information-environment/
[4] Zápis z 21. schůze zahraničního výboru konané dne 22. června 2023 (2023, June 22). Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu České republiky. https://www.psp.cz/sqw/text/orig2.sqw?idd=230467&pdf=1
[5] Šídlová, T. (2023, September 29). Lipavský: Rusko se může velmi dynamicky proměnit. Seznam Zprávy. https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/domaci-politika-lipavsky-na-velvyslanci-v-moskve-trvam-237487. Koubová, K. (2023, September 14). Návrat českého velvyslance do Moskvy? Komunikační linka je potřebná i s nepřátelskou zemí, míní Vondra. Není důvod, nesouhlasí Kolář. Český Rozhlas Plus. https://plus.rozhlas.cz/navrat-ceskeho-velvyslance-do-moskvy-komunikacni-linka-je-potrebna-i-s-9072461