The annual conference of the heads of embassies of the Czech Republic has officially begun on the 23rd of August 2021. The meeting takes place at the Černín Palace, in the capital city Prague. At this week-long event, the members of the Czech government, representatives of Czech diplomacy and invited guests discuss topics such as foreign policy, security, consulate, EU and economy. Above all, an exceptionally debated matter will arguably be the Czech Chairmanship in the Council of the European Union as the Czech Republic will be in charge of this post for the first six months of the year 2022. This year’s conference kicked off with speeches given by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš (ANO political party) and Jakub Kulhánek, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (representing the ČSSD political party). During his opening speech, Kulhánek primarily addressed the Afghanistan issue. He saw it as an opportunity to mention the honorable actions of the Czech Army and the ambassador Jiří Baloun, who had been actively assisting the evacuation process of Czech officials and Afghan allies from Kabul to the Czech Republic when the Afghan crisis broke out. At the end of his speech, Kulhánek honored Baloun with the Czech Medal of Merit for Diplomacy, the highest award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
