Prague, March 22 (CTK) – Czech diplomacy got mark three for its activities in 2016 from a team of analysts of the Association for International Affairs (IMO) who assessed it along the 1-5 scale, where five is the worst mark, IMO says in its yearbook issued on Wednesday.
They gave the most negative assessment to Czech diplomacy for its cooperation within the Visegrad Four, which is comprised of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and its procedure in seeking a solution to the migrant crisis, which it calls unconstructive.
The political analysts also criticise the Czech policy on Syria and continued contacts with the regime of President Bashar Assad.
According to the analysis, Czech foreign policy lacks a strong leader. The authors write that neither Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek nor Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (both Social Democrats, CSSD) is such a leader.
This vacates scope for President Milos Zeman and Deputy Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO), they write.
In general, the analysis blames Czech diplomacy for insufficient activity.
“The Czech Republic devoted itself to important issues too late, or not at all, and it was only heard little on usually strong themes, such as the Eastern Partnership or human rights,” the yearbook writes.
It also writes that Czech representatives often act unpredictably and obstructively.
Visegrad cooperation is an example of Czech foreign policy’s failure. Last year, it took a resolutely negative stance on the introduction of quotas for refugees within the EU.
“The Visegrad Group has become a symbol of an attitude lacking solidarity. This was mainly due to its stances on dealing with the migrant crisis and a reform of the Common European Asylum System, which contributed to the deepening of gaps between EU member countries,” the experts write.
Czech policy on Russia was also bad. “The illegibility of the Czech position on Russia was due to President Milos Zeman to a great degree. By exaggerating the negative impact of the sanctions on our economy, by justifying the annexation of Crimea and the warm contacts with Russian politicians, the president repeatedly undermined the government line,” the yearbook editors write.
They write that Zeman together with Babis usurped the foreign political themes on the domestic scene.
“They acted unpredictably, opportunistically and destructively,” the analysts write.
Neither Sobotka nor Zaoralek were able to stand up to their rhetoric. Especially Zeman contributed to that Czech society lacks a matter-of-fact and informed debate on foreign political themes.
Zeman and some political parties stir emotions and abuse people’s fears in the election struggle with their statements.
The Czech Republic held regional and Senate elections last year. It will hold a general election in October.
“If they want to successfully lead the Czech Republic through the current turbulent times, politicians should keep in mind that building a scared society will help them neither in the long nor short term,” the experts write.
AMO director Vit Dostal said examples from other European countries show that politicians can lead a debate on foreign policy in a matter-of-fact way while not losing citizens’ support.
He said this is confirmed by the persisting high trust of Slovaks in President Andrej Kiska and the victory of Alexander van der Bellen in Austria.
The 11th AMO yearbook praises Czech diplomacy for cooperation with Germany and Poland and for foreign development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
