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Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic 2005

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Report on the Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic 2005 Opening Message Dear readers, This is the seventh report on the Czech Republic’s foreign policy prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. It contains summary information about Czech foreign policy for 2005 and will inform you about the achievements of Czech diplomacy. Besides its traditional priorities, such as strengthening Euro-Atlantic ties and furthering friendly relations with neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic’s foreign policy activities in 2005 concentrated on supporting democracy and the development of human rights in countries where authoritative regimes continue to suppress values that we now take for granted. The Czech Republic also continued to participate in the fight against international terrorism, which again reminded Europe of the reality of this threat. The Czech Republic also actively promoted its foreign policy priorities within the European Union, where the country successfully completed its first year of membership. The book also contains information regarding the economic and cultural dimension of Czech foreign policy; and space is devoted to the presentation of the Czech Republic abroad, where one of the most significant events of 2005 was the presentation of the country’s new, original logo. I hope and trust that you will find the information about the Czech Republic’s foreign policy contained in this publication interesting and useful reading. Cyril Svoboda Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic 1 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 I. MULTILATERAL COOPERATION ................................................................................. 26 1. The Czech Republic and the European Union ........................................................ 26 The Czech Republic and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy .......... 45 The Czech Republic and European Security and Defence Policy ........................ 47 2. The Czech Republic and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ........... 52 3. The Czech Republic and Regional Cooperation ..................................................... 65 Visegrad Cooperation ........................................................................................... 65 Central European Initiative (CEI) ......................................................................... 67 Regional Partnership ............................................................................................. 70 Stability Pact for South East Europe .................................................................... 70 4. The Czech Republic and Other European Forums .................................................. 73 The Czech Republic and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ........................................................................ 73 The Council of Europe............................................................................................. 77 5. The Czech Republic and International Organisations ............................................. 80 United Nations Organisation (UN).......................................................................... 80 Principal UN Bodies................................................................................................ 81 UN International Conferences................................................................................. 86 Specialised Organisations in the UN System........................................................... 90 Programmes, Funds and Other Specialised UN Organisations.............................. 97 The Czech Republic and International Organisations ........................................... 104 The Czech Republic and the World Economy (OECD, WTO, IMF, WB, EBRD, CEB, IBEC, IIB) ............................................... 104 The Czech Republic’s Membership of Certain Other International Organisations ...................................................... 115 6. Non-proliferation of Weapons, Arms Control and Disarmament ........................ 118 7. The Czech Republic in the Fight against International Terrorism ........................ 129 8. Foreign Development and Humanitarian Aid and Transformation Cooperation .. 137 II. THE CZECH REPUBLIC’S BILATERAL RELATIONS............................................... 144 Arab Republic of Egypt.............................................................................................. 144 Argentine Republic .................................................................................................... 146 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ............................................................................. 147 Bosnia and Herzegovina............................................................................................. 148 Canada........................................................................................................................ 150 Commonwealth of Australia ...................................................................................... 152 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.................................................................... 153 Democratic Republic of the Congo............................................................................ 154 Eastern Republic of Uruguay ..................................................................................... 155 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.................................................................. 156 Federal Republic of Germany .................................................................................... 157 Federal Republic of Nigeria ....................................................................................... 160 Federation of Malaysia............................................................................................... 161 Federative Republic of Brazil .................................................................................... 163 2 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ................................................................. 164 French Republic ......................................................................................................... 165 Georgia....................................................................................................................... 169 Grand Duchy of Luxembourg .................................................................................... 170 Grand Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya .................................................... 172 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan................................................................................... 173 Hellenic Republic....................................................................................................... 174 Holy See ..................................................................................................................... 176 Ireland......................................................................................................................... 176 Islamic Republic of Afghanistan................................................................................ 179 Islamic Republic of Iran............................................................................................. 180 Islamic Republic of Pakistan...................................................................................... 181 Japan........................................................................................................................... 182 Kingdom of Belgium.................................................................................................. 185 Kingdom of Denmark................................................................................................. 187 Kingdom of Morocco................................................................................................. 189 Kingdom of Norway................................................................................................... 190 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .......................................................................................... 192 Kingdom of Spain ...................................................................................................... 193 Kingdom of Sweden................................................................................................... 195 Kingdom of Thailand ................................................................................................. 198 Kingdom of The Netherlands..................................................................................... 199 Mongolia .................................................................................................................... 202 Palestine (Palestinian Autonomous Territories)......................................................... 204 People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.................................................................. 205 People’s Republic of China........................................................................................ 206 Portuguese Republic................................................................................................... 211 Principality of Liechtenstein ...................................................................................... 212 Republic of Albania ................................................................................................... 213 Republic of
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