Prague, March 13 (CTK) – President Milos Zeman received the credentials from the new ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Czech Republic, Nicholas Archer, and thus officially confirmed his assuming the diplomatic post at Prague Castle, the presidential seat, on Tuesday.
Archer, who replaced Jan Thompson at the British embassy’s helm in January, addressed Zeman in Czech when he presented his credentials to him. Zeman assessed his Czech as almost perfect.
Archer then introduced his country and aides at the embassy to Zeman, which is the usual practice on such occasions.
Archer told CTK that he would like to further develop Czech-British relations that would not be harmed by Brexit.
“There are many core national interests which we have common. We are both trading nations and we want to preserve and enhance free trade when the threat of protectionism seems to loom larger. We cooperate in defence and security as NATO members. We share the values of democracy, free speech and human rights, we both care for the environment, and we subscribe to the same high standards and regulations for conducting business,” Archer wrote in his statement for CTK.
“None of this should change with our leaving the EU in 2019. Rather, we want these ties to strengthen because in all of these areas we make our peoples more safe, educated, richer,” he wrote.
The Czech Republic and Britain are friends and allies and they should remain so, he added.
Archer has occupied a number of diplomatic posts, including that of the ambassador to Denmark. He is the first male British ambassador to Prague after 17 years. Four women held the post from 2001.
Archer arrived in Prague in mid-January and since then he has already met representatives of Czech and British institutions as an ambassador-designate.
Zeman also received the credentials from other new ambassadors – Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar and Andreas Guibeb of Namibia, both seated in Berlin, on Tuesday.
