PRESS GUIDE

New START Treaty Signing

PRAGUE, April 8, 2010 NEW START TREATY SIGNING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION / PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC / APRIL 8, 2010 PRESS GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 Welcome to Prague

4 Practical Information Embassy Information Important Offices Hotels

5 Event Sites TBD

6 Local Information

8 Top Tourist Sites Old Town Square, Prague Castle, Charles Bridge

10 U.S. Embassy Historical Overview Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

The Czech Republic 11 People 11 Government and political conditions 12 Modern Czech History 15 Economy 16 National Security 16 U.S.-Czech Relations

Biographies 18 President Barack Obama 19 U.S. Chargé d’Affairs Mary Thompson-Jones 20 President Václav Klaus 21 Prime Minister 22 Foreign Minister 23 Czech Government Officials

26 Important & Useful Internet Links

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WELCOME TO PRAGUE

Situated on the Vltava River, Prague has been celebrated as one of the beautiful cities of Europe ever since the Middle Ages. The historical city is a unique symbiosis of all architectural styles: from Gothic towers, Renaissance palaces, Baroque churches through to Art Nouveau structures and the collaborative work of Frank O. Gehry and Vladimir Milunic. Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic, home to nearly 1.2 million residents. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been Prague Old Town Square included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Statue of Jan Hus Sites. Nicknames for Prague include "city of a hundred spires” and "the golden city.” Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most popular tourist destinations. It is the most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin.

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION

EMBASSY INFORMATION

 U.S. Embassy Prague  (+420) 257-022-000 (switchboard) Tržiště 15  (+420) 257-022-005 (Press Office) 118 01 Prague 1 – Malá Strana fax (+420) 257-022-809

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

IMPORTANT OFFICES

White House Press Filing Center Prague Marriott Hotel Bohemia Conference Room V Celnici 8, 110 00 Prague 1

U.S. Embassy Press Office Prague Marriott Hotel Foyer by Bohemia Conference Room V Celnici 8, 110 00 Prague 1  (+420) 224-267-006

Hotels

Prague Marriott Hotel V Celnici 8, 110 00 Prague 1  (+420) 222-888-888 / fax (+420) 222-888-889

The Hilton Hotel Pobřežní 1, 186 00 Prague 8  (+420) 224-841-111 / fax (+420) 224-842-378

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EVENT SITES

The Prague Castle (Pražský hrad)

The Prague Castle is where Czech kings, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The history of the castle stretches back to the 9th century and the complex of buildings represent virtually every architectural style of the last millennium. The Prague Castle includes the gothic St Vitus Cathedral, Romanesque basilica of St. George, a monastery and several palaces, gardens and defense towers. Most of the castle areas are opened to tourists. The castle houses several museums.

The Spanish Hall

One of the most beautiful state rooms at the Prague Castle is the Spanish Hall. It was built in the 17th century for Emperor Rudolph II., who had his collection of sculptures there. Nowadays, the room is a place of many important political and social events. For example, the classic music festival Strings of Autumn takes place there.The Spanish Hall got its name because of highbred Spanish horses stables that used to be below it. The size of the hall is impressive: it is 43 metres long, 21 meters wide and 12 meters high. It was built in the beginning of the 17th century probably by Giovanni Maria Filippi.

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Local Information

Local telephone information  Country code for the Czech Republic: 420  Calling the United States from Europe: 001 – area code - number  Emergencies (police, fire, ambulance):  112 (English speaking operator)  Information about telephone numbers in the Czech Republic:  1188  Information about international telephone numbers:  1181

Time Zone There is a 6 hour time difference between Prague and Washington D.C. (9:00 AM in Prague is 3:00 AM in Washington, D.C.)

Electricity In the Czech Republic, the electricity is 220 VAC. The use of a transformer is required for all 110VAC appliances.

Currency The local currency is the Czech Koruna or Crown; the Czech symbol "Kč", international symbol "CZK". You may check at the hotel for the official exchange rate, which is at just above CZK 20 to USD 1. It is recommended to exchange currency at a bank. Czech currency can be with withdrawn from numerous ATMs (in Czech "bankomat") located throughout the city, using your U.S. debit or credit card.

Tipping Common practice is to tip up to 10%, depending on the level of service.

Crime The Czech Republic generally has a low rate of crime. However, street crime – particularly pick-pocketing – is a problem, especially in major tourist areas in Prague. Travelers are encouraged to be especially vigilant in Prague’s restaurants, train stations and on public transportation around the city center. Visitors should be alert to the potential for substantial overcharging by taxis, particularly in areas frequented by tourists. Radio-dispatched taxis are often much more reliable.

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Express Mail Services DHL  840-103-000, 220-300-111 FEDEX  800-133-339 UPS  800-181-111

Main Post Office  221-131-111 Jindřišská 909/14, Prague 1 – open daily from 2 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Taxi Please note it is always cheaper to call for a cab than to take one from the street. Have your hotel or restaurant place the call. AAA Taxi dispatchers consistently speak English.

Taxi operators AAA Taxi  14-0-14 City Taxi  257-257-257 Speed Cars  224-234-234

Car Rentals Hertz  225-345-000 Alimex  800-150-170 Renocar  257-313-798

Airlines Delta  220-113-080, 220-113-081 (airport operations)  234-723-260 (reservations) Lufthansa  234-008-234 Czech Airlines  800-310-310

Airports Prague - Ruzyně  220-111-111 Frankfurt  (+49) 69-690-0 Vienna  (+43) 1-7007-0 Munich  (+49) 89-975-00

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TOP TOURIST SITES

Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) Dating back to the late 12th century, the Old Town Square was originally the central marketplace for Prague. Over the next few centuries, many buildings of Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic styles were erected around the market. The Old Town Square is one of two main squares in Prague's city centre (the other is Wenceslas Square). Its most notable sights are the twin spires of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, the Old Town Hall Tower and Astronomical Clock.

The Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral (Pražský hrad a katedrála sv. Víta) The Prague Castle is the most popular tourist sight in Prague. It is the largest ancient castle in the world (570 m long, on average 128 m wide, area 7.28 hectares). Constructed in the 9th century by Prince Bořivoj, the castle transformed itself from a wooden fortress surrounded by earthen bulwarks to the imposing form it has today. Prague castle has had four major reconstructions, but it has kept the classical facelift it took on in the 18 century during the reign of Maria Theresa. The castle has three courtyards and it has always been the seat of Czech rulers as well as the official residence. Allow at least half a day (not including time for museum visits) if you want to examine it in depth.

Seated within the Castle walls is the Gothic cathedral of St. Vitus, the spiritual symbol of the Czech state. Begun in 1344 by Mathias Arras and Petr Parler upon the site of a 10th century rotunda, the final phase of construction ended only during 1873-1929. The cathedral contains underground tombs of Czech kings. Parler also built St. Wenceslas Chapel where the coronation jewels are deposited. The chapel is decorated with frescoes and semi-precious stones.

The Charles Bridge (Karlův most) Prague's 13th century Charles Bridge throngs with people, but it is lovely. Try early morning for a less crowded walk, or go at night for a lovely view of the Prague skyline, dominated by the magnificent Prague Castle. It is the main pedestrian route linking the Old Town with the

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Prague Castle itself. King Charles IV's favorite architect and builder, Peter Parler, built the present day Charles Bridge. The initial idea was to build a functional construction for knight tournaments, and for many years the only decoration on the bridge was a simple crucifix. Thirty religious statues were erected between 1600 and 1800. Today, most of the statues are copies, as various floods and catastrophes have damaged the originals. There are now 75 statues.

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U.S. EMBASSY PRAGUE

The United States and the Czech Republic enjoy a partnership that began over 80 years ago when Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia, and President Woodrow Wilson pledged together to be friends and allies in the cause of democracy. This Czech-American partnership is deeply rooted in the shared ideals of our two countries. Today the U.S. Embassy in Prague works together with the Czech Republic to strengthen our partnership by advancing the key goals of regional stability, economic prosperity, and strengthening the democratic institutions within the Czech Republic and in Central Europe. We support economic activity by encouraging U.S. commercial ties with and promoting U.S. investment in the Czech Republic.

The U.S. Embassy is currently housed in the Schoenborn Palace in the Mala Strana district of Prague. Richard Crane, the first U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, sold the Palace to the United States Government in 1925 for $117,000. It is built on the site of an earlier house that was destroyed during the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648).

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials Chargé d‘Affairs Mary Thompson-Jones Consul General David Beam Political and Economic Counselor Charles Blaha Counselor for Public Affairs John Law Counselor for Management Kevin Rubesh Commercial Counselor Gregory O'Connor Defense & Air Attaché Chief Office of Defense Cooperation Marek Stobbe Legal Attaché Johannes Vandenhoogen Regional Security Officer Richard Wade Regional Agricultural Officer Eric Wenberg (based in Warsaw)

 U.S. Embassy Prague  (+420) 257-022-000 (switchboard) Tržiště 15  (+420) 257-022-005 (Press Office) 118 01 Prague 1 – Malá Strana fax (+420) 257-022-809 Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

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THE CZECH REPUBLIC

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Czech(s) Population: 10.5 million Annual growth rate: -4.0% Ethnic groups: Czech (95% or 9.7 million); Slovak (193,000); Roma (171,000); Polish (52,000); German (39,000); Ukrainian (22,000); and Vietnamese (18,000). Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant Language: Czech Education: Literacy -- 99.8% Health: Life expectancy -- males 72.3 yrs., females 78.5 yrs. Work force (5.17 million): Industry, construction, and commerce -- 40%; government and other services -- 56%; agriculture -- 4%

Government and Political Conditions

Type: Parliamentary democracy Independence: The Czech Republic was established January 1, 1993 (former Czechoslovak state established 1918) Constitution: Signed December 16, 1992 Branches: Executive -- president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet Legislative--Chamber of Deputies or “Lower House”, Senate or "Upper House" Judicial -- Supreme Court, Constitutional Court.

Political parties (June 2006 election): o Civic Democratic Party (ODS), 81 seats o Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), 74 seats o Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), 26 seats o Christian and Democratic Union-Czechoslovak Peoples Party (KDU-CSL), 13 seats o Green Party (SZ), 6 seats.

The President of the Czech Republic is Václav Klaus, who was sworn into office on March 7, 2003 and re-elected in 2008. As formal head of state, the president is granted specific powers such as the right to nominate Constitutional Court judges,

Page 11 NEW START TREATY SIGNING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION / PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC / APRIL 8, 2010 PRESS GUIDE dissolve parliament under certain conditions, and enact a veto on legislation. Presidents are elected by the parliament for 5-year terms.

The legislature is bicameral, with a Chamber of Deputies (200 seats) and a Senate (81 seats). The country's highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues, is appointed by the president. Its members serve 10-year terms.

The impasse after 2006 general election led to months of protracted negotiations during which Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (ODS) formed a three-party coalition with the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Greens (SZ). The coalition lost a vote of no-confidence in March 2009. Since April 2009, the country has been run by a caretaker cabinet of Jan Fischer to which all major parties sent their delegates. Next parliamentary elections are set for May 28-29 2010.

Modern Czech History

With the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire and monarchy at the end of World War I, the independent country of Czechoslovakia was formed. The Czechs, Moravians, and Slovaks remained united for almost 75 years.

Although Czechoslovakia was the only east European country to remain a parliamentary democracy from 1918 to 1938, it was plagued with minority problems, the most important of which concerned the country's large German population. Constituting more than 22% of the interwar state's population and largely concentrated in the Bohemian and Moravian border regions (the Sudetenland), members of this minority, including some who were sympathetic to Nazi Germany, undermined the new Czechoslovak state. Internal and external pressures culminated in September 1938, when France and the United Kingdom yielded to Nazi pressures at Munich and agreed to force Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Germany.

Fulfilling Hitler's aggressive designs on all of Czechoslovakia, Germany invaded what remained of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, establishing a German "protectorate." By this time, Slovakia had already declared independence and had become a puppet state of the Germans. At the close of World War II, Soviet troops overran all of Slovakia, Moravia, and much of Bohemia, including Prague.

In May 1945, U.S. forces liberated the city of Pilsen and most of western Bohemia. A civilian uprising against the German garrison took place in Prague in May 1945. Following Germany's surrender, some 2.9 million ethnic Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia with Allied approval under the Benes Decrees. Reunited after the war, the Czechs and Slovaks set national elections for the spring of 1946. The Czechoslovak Communist Party, which won 38% of the vote, held most of the key

Page 12 NEW START TREATY SIGNING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION / PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC / APRIL 8, 2010 PRESS GUIDE positions in the government and gradually managed to neutralize or silence the anti-communist forces. Under the cover of superficial legality, the Communist Party seized power in February 1948.

The 1968 Soviet Invasion

The communist leadership allowed token reforms in the early 1960s, but discontent arose within the ranks of the Communist Party central committee, stemming from dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the economic reforms, resistance to cultural liberalization, and the desire of the Slovaks within the leadership for greater autonomy for their republic. This discontent expressed itself with the removal of Antonin Novotny from party leadership in January 1968 and from the presidency in March. He was replaced as party leader by a Slovak, Alexander Dubcek.

After January 1968, the Dubcek leadership took practical steps toward political, social, and economic reforms. In addition, it called for politico-military changes in the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact and Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. After 20 years of little public participation, the population gradually started to take interest in the government, and Dubcek became a truly popular national figure. The internal reforms and foreign policy statements of the Dubcek leadership created great concern among some other Warsaw Pact governments. On the night of August 20, 1968, Soviet, Hungarian, Bulgarian, East German, and Polish troops invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak Government immediately declared that the troops had not been invited into the country and that their invasion was a violation of socialist principles, international law, and the UN Charter.

The principal Czechoslovak reformers were forcibly and secretly taken to the Soviet Union. Under obvious Soviet duress, they were compelled to sign a treaty that provided for the "temporary stationing" of an unspecified number of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. Dubcek was removed as party First Secretary on April 17, 1969, and replaced by another Slovak, Gustav Husak. The 1970s and 1980s became known as the period of "normalization," in which the apologists for the 1968 Soviet invasion prevented, as best they could, any opposition to their conservative regime. Political, social, and economic life stagnated. The population, cowed by the "normalization," was quiet.

The Velvet Revolution

The roots of the 1989 Civic Forum movement that came to power during the "Velvet Revolution" lie in human rights activism. On January 1, 1977, more than 250 human rights activists signed a manifesto called the Charter 77, which criticized the government for failing to implement human rights provisions of documents it had signed, including the state's own constitution; international covenants on political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights; and the Final Act of the Conference for

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Security and Cooperation in Europe. Although not organized in any real sense, the signatories of Charter 77 constituted a citizens' initiative aimed at inducing the Czechoslovak Government to observe formal obligations to respect the human rights of its citizens.

On November 17, 1989, the communist police violently broke up a peaceful pro- democracy demonstration and brutally beat many student participants. In the days that followed, Charter 77 and other groups united to become the Civic Forum, an umbrella group championing bureaucratic reform and civil liberties. Its leader was the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel. Intentionally eschewing the label "party," a word given a negative connotation during the previous regime, Civic Forum quickly gained the support of millions of Czechs, as did its Slovak counterpart, Public Against Violence.

Faced with an overwhelming popular repudiation, the Communist Party all but collapsed. Its leaders, Husak and party chief Milos Jakes, resigned in December 1989, and Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia on December 29. The astonishing quickness of these events was in part due to the unpopularity of the communist regime and changes in the policies of its Soviet guarantor as well as to the rapid, effective organization of these public initiatives into a viable opposition.

A coalition government, in which the Communist Party had a minority of ministerial positions, was formed in December 1989. The first free elections in Czechoslovakia since 1946 took place in June 1990 without incident and with more than 95% of the population voting. As anticipated, Civic Forum and Public Against Violence won landslide victories in their respective republics and gained a comfortable majority in the federal parliament. The parliament undertook substantial steps toward securing the democratic evolution of Czechoslovakia. It successfully moved toward fair local elections in November 1990, ensuring fundamental change at the county and town level.

Civic Forum found, however, that although it had successfully completed its primary objective--the overthrow of the communist regime--it was ineffectual as a governing party. The demise of Civic Forum was viewed by most as necessary and inevitable. By the end of 1990, unofficial parliamentary "clubs" had evolved with distinct political agendas. Most influential was the Civic Democratic Party, headed by Vaclav Klaus, who later became Prime Minister. Other notable parties that came to the fore after the split were the Czech Social Democratic Party, Civic Movement, and Civic Democratic Alliance.

By 1992, Slovak calls for greater autonomy effectively blocked the daily functioning of the federal government. In the election of June 1992, Klaus's Civic Democratic Party won handily in the Czech lands on a platform of economic reform. Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia emerged as the leading party in Slovakia, basing its appeal on fairness to Slovak demands for autonomy. Federalists,

Page 14 NEW START TREATY SIGNING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION / PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC / APRIL 8, 2010 PRESS GUIDE like Havel, were unable to contain the trend toward the split. In July 1992, President Havel resigned. In the latter half of 1992, Klaus and Meciar hammered out an agreement that the two republics would go their separate ways by the end of the year.

On January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia were simultaneously and peacefully founded. Relationships between the two states, despite occasional disputes about the division of federal property and governing of the border, have been peaceful. Both states attained immediate recognition from the U.S. and their European neighbors. The Czech Republic joined NATO in March 1999 and the EU in May 2004. In the first half of 2009, it presided over the EU.

Economy

GDP (2008): $217 billion Nominal per capital income: $21,040 Industry: Types--motor vehicles, machinery and equipment, iron, steel, cement, sheet glass, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, and footwear Trade (2008): Exports -- $145 billion (est.): motor vehicles, machinery, iron, steel, chemicals, raw materials, consumer goods. Imports--$141 billion (est.). Trading partners -- Germany (32%), Slovakia, Poland, France, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, U.K., China, and the United States

Of the former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic has one of the most developed and industrialized economies. Its strong industrial tradition dates to the 19th century, when Bohemia and Moravia were the industrial heartland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Czech Republic has a well-educated population and a well-developed infrastructure. The country's strategic location in Europe, low-cost structure, and skilled work force have attracted strong inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). This investment is rapidly modernizing its industrial base and increasing productivity.

The small, open, export-driven Czech economy grew by over 6% annually from 2005-2007 and the strong growth continued throughout the first three quarters of 2008. Despite the global financial crisis, the conservative Czech financial system has remained relatively healthy. The rate of Czech economic growth, however, began to fall in the fourth quarter of 2008, mainly due to a significant drop in demand for Czech exports in Western Europe. This trend is expected to continue, with many analysts predicting Czech economy to contract slightly in 2009. The Czech Republic plans to accede to the euro zone in 2012 at the earliest.

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National Security

The Czech Republic has made a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism relative to its size. It deployed a nuclear/biological/chemical (NBC) defense unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and a field hospital in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The Czech Government has deployed several times Special Forces unit to OEF in Afghanistan, and a group of specialists to ISAF. The Czechs deployed forces to Kabul, military reconnaissance troops to serve with a German-led Provincial Reconstruction Team under ISAF in northern Afghanistan and later sent troops to the Loghar Province. In total, the Czech Republic has more than 400 troops in Afghanistan and a similar number in Kosovo. In the past, the Czech Republic had also troops in Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Czech Republic and NATO

The Czech Republic has made a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism relative to its size. It deployed a nuclear/biological/chemical (NBC) defense unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and a field hospital in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The Czech Government has deployed several times Special Forces unit to OEF in Afghanistan, and a group of specialists to ISAF. The Czechs deployed forces to Kabul, military reconnaissance troops to serve with a German-led Provincial Reconstruction Team under ISAF in northern Afghanistan and later sent troops to the Loghar Province. In total, the Czech Republic has more than 400 troops in Afghanistan and a similar number in Kosovo. In the past, the Czech Republic had also troops in Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

U.S.-Czech Relations

President Woodrow Wilson and the United States played a major role in the establishment of the original Czechoslovak state on October 28, 1918. President Wilson's 14 Points, including the right of ethnic groups to form their own states, were the basis for the union of the Czechs and Slovaks. Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the father of the state, visited the United States during World War I and worked with U.S. officials in developing the basis of the new country. Masaryk used the U.S. Constitution as a model for the first Czechoslovak constitution.

After World War II, and the return of the Czechoslovak Government in exile, normal relations continued until 1948, when the communists seized power. Relations cooled rapidly. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 further

Page 16 NEW START TREATY SIGNING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION / PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC / APRIL 8, 2010 PRESS GUIDE complicated U.S.-Czechoslovak relations. The United States referred the matter to the UN Security Council as a violation of the UN Charter, but no action was taken against the Soviets.

Since the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, bilateral relations have improved. Dissidents, once sustained by U.S. encouragement and human rights policies, reached high levels in the government. President Havel, in his first official visit as head of Czechoslovakia, addressed the U.S. Congress and was interrupted 21 times by standing ovations. In 1990, on the first anniversary of the revolution, President George H.W. Bush, in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Prague's Wenceslas Square, pledged U.S. support in building a democratic Czechoslovakia. Toward this end, the U.S. Government has actively encouraged political and economic transformation.

The U.S. Government was originally opposed to the idea of Czechoslovakia forming two separate states due to concerns that a split might aggravate existing regional political tensions. However, the U.S. recognized both the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993. Since then, U.S.-Czech relations have remained strong economically, politically, and culturally. Millions of Americans have their roots in Bohemia and Moravia, and a large community in the United States has strong cultural and familial ties with the Czech Republic. Over 40,000 Czechs visited the United States last year. In November 2008, the Czech Republic joined the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.

In January 2007, the U.S. asked the Czech Republic to host a missile-defense radar in the Brdy region southwest of Prague. Negotiations started two months later and ended in summer 2008 with the signing of two agreements: the Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement and the Status of Forces Agreement. Both countries also signed the “Framework Agreement” providing for a U.S.-Czech research & development cooperation. The Czech cabinet approved all three documents and the Czech Senate followed suit in November 2008.

The Czech government withdrew the agreements from the Czech Lower House’s agenda in March 2009 in order to revisit them after completing discussions with the newly minted administration of President Barack Obama. The Obama administration cancelled the system’s proposed radar component in the Czech Republic when it revised the missile-defense project in Europe in September 2009.

U.S.–Czech scientific cooperation continues to strengthen. Though not linked to the Framework Agreement, the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Global Division in February 2010 opened a new regional science and technology office in Prague.

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Biography President Barack Obama

Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States. With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.

He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.

President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.

He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are parents of two daughters, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8.

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Biography U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones

Mary Thompson-Jones is a Senior Foreign Service Officer. She arrived in Prague in August, 2007. Her overseas assignments include work as Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in Madrid; Press Attaché in Prague; a long-term tdy as Press Attaché in Sarajevo; Public Affairs Officer in Montreal; and Counselor for Public Affairs in Guatemala. She has been awarded three Meritorious Honor Awards for her overseas work.

Her Washington D.C. assignments include stints as Deputy Staff Director for the Public Diplomacy Advisory Commission; Senior Press Officer in the Bureau of European Affairs; Deputy Policy Coordinator for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs; and Branch Chief for International Educational Advising in the Bureau of educational and Cultural Affairs.

Before joining the Foreign Service she spent eight years as a journalist, primarily as an editorial writer, on daily newspapers including the Glandale News-Press, the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Providence Journal.

She holds bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science from California State University. She has a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Fletcher School, where she won both the Stewart and Gullion Prizes as outstanding first and second year student. She speaks Spanish, French and Czech.

She is married to Harold Y. Jones and is the mother of Andrea, Gareth and Gwyneth.

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Biography President Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus was born in the Vinohrady district of Prague on June 19, 1941. He obtained his university education at the University of Economics, Prague, majoring in the Foreign Trade Economics and graduating in 1963. He took advantage of the relative liberalization in then-Czechoslovakia in order to study in Italy (1966) and the USA (1969). As a research worker at the Institute of Economics of the Czech Academy of Sciences he completed his postgraduate scientific studies and in 1968 was awarded the title of PhD. in Economics.

In 1970 he was forced to abandon his research career for political reasons, and went to work at the Czechoslovak State Bank. In 1987 he returned from the bank to his academic work at the Prognostic Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Immediately after the events of November 17, 1989 he entered politics, but did not lose contact with the world of economic science. He continued to lecture and publish. In 1995 he was appointed professor for the field of finances at the University of Economics, Prague.

President Klaus embarked on his political career in December 1989, when he became Federal Minister of Finance. Later, in October 1991 he was appointed vice chairman of the government of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic. At the end of 1990 he became the chairman of the then strongest political entity - the Civic Forum. Following its demise in April 1991 he co-founded the Civic Democratic Party.

In June 1992, he became Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. In 1996, he successfully defended his post as Prime Minister in election to the Chamber of Deputies. Following the collapse of the governing coalition in November 1997, he tendered his resignation. Following a forced general election in 1998, he became chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech parliament for a four-year period. On February 28, 2003 he was elected President of the Czech Republic. He was reelected in February 2008.

Vaclav Klaus is married to the economist Livia Klausova and has two sons and five grandchildren.

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Biography Prime Minister Jan Fischer

Jan Fischer was born in Prague in 1951. In 1974, Fischer finished his studies at the national economics faculty of the University of Economics, Prague with a degree in statistics and econometrics. He joined the statistical office after university, where he worked until the beginning of the 1980s as a research employee of the Research Institute of Socioeconomic Information. He served in various functions at the Federal Statistical Office until 1990, when he became deputy chairman of the office. After the creation of an independent Czech Republic in 1993, he became the deputy chairman of the Czech Statistical Office.

From the beginning of the 1990s he led teams processing the results of parliamentary and municipal elections. He was also in charge of contacts with the European Union's Eurostat statistical office. He was named chairman of the Czech Statistical Office by the President of the Czech Republic on 24 April 2003.

He was named Prime Minister by the President of the Czech Republic on 9 April 2009.

He is a member of a number of prestigious institutions, including the Czech Statistics Society, the International Statistics Institute, the Science Council, the Board of Trustees of the University of Economics, Prague, as well as the Science Council of the University of J.E. Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem.

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Biography Foreign Minister Jan Kohout

Foreign Minister Jan Kohout was born in Pilsen on March 29, 1961. In 1984 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University. He then worked as a researcher at the Institute for International Relations in Prague. After the Velvet Revolution, he worked on various positions at the Foreign Ministry including posts in the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN, OSCE and other International Organizations located in Vienna. From 2004 to 2008, Kohout was Ambassador and Permanent Representative for the Czech Republic to the EU and since 2009 has been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 1995 to 2009 he was a member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD). He has a son, Martin, and a daughter, Barbora.

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GOVERNMENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Prime Minister (PM) Jan Fischer

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kohout

Minister of Defense Martin Barták

Minister for European Affairs

Minister of Finance

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Minister of Interior Martin Pecina

Minister of Justice Daniela Kovářová

Minister of Regional Development Rostislav Vondruška

Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimír Tošovský

Minister of Health Dana Jurásková

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Minister of Education Miroslava Kopicová

Minister of Transportation Gustáv Slamečka

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Jakub Šebesta

Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch

Minister of Minorities Affairs Jan Fischer

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IMPORTANT & USEFUL INTERNET LINKS

U.S. Embassy http://prague.usembassy.gov

Czech Government www.vlada.cz

City of Prague http://www.praha.eu Historical sites http://www.pis.cz/en/prague/monuments

Congress Center http://www.kcp.cz/

Marriott Prague http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/prgdt-prague-marriott-hotel/ Hilton Prague http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/PRGHITW-Hilton-Prague-hotel/index.do

DHL http://www.dhl.cz/publish/cz/en.high.html FEDEX http://fedex.com/cz_english/ UPS http://www.ups.com/europe/cs/engindex.html

Czech Post http://www.cpost.cz

AAA Taxi http://www.aaataxi.cz/ City Taxi http://www.citytaxi.cz/ Speed Cars http://www.speedcars.cz/

Hertz http://www.hertz.cz/en/ Alimex http://www.car-rental-prague.cz/ Renocar http://www.renocar-praha.cz/

Delta Airlines http://www.delta.com Lufthansa http://www.lufthansa.cz CSA http://www.csa.cz

Prague Airport http://www.prg.aero Frankfurt http://www.airportcity-frankfurt.com/ Vienna http://www.viennaairport.com Munich http://www.munich-airport.de

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