The Czech Republic is a Central European country, a member of the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations. It entertains diplomatic relations with 191 countries of the world, around half of which maintain a resident embassy in the Czech capital city, Prague.
The Slovak Republic has been a member of European Union since 2004. Slovakia has been an active participant in U.S.- and NATO-led military actions. There is a joint Czech-Slovak peacekeeping force in Kosovo. After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the United States, the government opened its airspace to coalition planes. In June 2002, Slovakia announced that they would send an engineering brigade to Afghanistan.
Pavel Telička is a Czech lobbyist, politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Czech Republic. He previously served as European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from May 2004 to November 2004. He was a member of ANO 2011, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, until 2017 when he quit amid disagreements with leader Andrej Babiš.
The European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) is a network of European national institutes of culture and national bodies engaged in cultural and related activities beyond their national borders. EUNIC brings together organizations from all 27 EU member states and adds value through its global network of clusters. By pooling together the resources and expertise of its members and carrying out joint work on common areas of interest, EUNIC is a recognized partner of the European Union and its stakeholders in defining and implementing European policy on culture inside and outside the EU.
The Salzburg Forum (SF) is a Central European security partnership of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Member states cooperate in areas of police cooperation, illegal immigration, witness protection, fight against drugs, traffic safety and other areas of internal security. They also focus on positions coordination and advancing common interests in the European Union in the area of Home Affairs. At least two conferences of interior ministers per year are held. As a rule, three SF ministerial meetings are held per year. One meeting takes place in the country holding the presidency and one further meeting is usually held in summer in Austria. In addition, ministers regularly meet in the margins of EU Council meetings.
Czech Republic–Russia relations are the bilateral foreign relations between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation. Relations have substantially deteriorated in recent years due to events such as the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russian sabotage of Czech ammunition depot in Vrbětice in 2014, poisoning of Sergei Skripal in 2018 and Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The diplomatic relations between Austria and Azerbaijan established in 1992 after Austria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan. Austria have an embassy in Baku. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Vienna. Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe.
Foreign relations exist between Austria and the United Kingdom, and have been positive and friendly since Austrian independence in 1955. Both nations are members of the Council of Europe. The two nations share close economic and technological ties, and cooperate in a variety of fields, particularly when the UK was a member of the European Union and also more recently in condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They have also agreed to cooperate on mutual interests over matters involving security in the Balkans, including regarding Kosovo, Albania and Serbia and furthermore to work together on countering subversive Russian activity in the region. Austria is a European Union member and the United Kingdom is a former European Union member. the United Kingdom is a member of NATO. Austria instead is not a member of NATO.
The Czech Pirate Party often known simply as the Pirates is a liberal progressive political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 2009. The party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaigning for political transparency, civil rights and direct democracy.
Damjan Prelovšek is a Slovenian art historian, and an expert on the architect Jože Plečnik. He was the Slovenian ambassador in Prague from 1998 to 2003.
Juraj (Jura) Chmiel is a Czech diplomat. He served as the nation's Minister for European Affairs.
Petr Fiala is a Czech politician and political scientist who has been the prime minister of the Czech Republic since December 2021 and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since 2014. He previously served as the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports from 2012 to 2013. Prior to entering politics, he was the rector of Masaryk University.
The Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) is a military collaboration consisting of the Central European states of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. Poland has an observer status in this cooperative framework.
Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg is an Austrian diplomat, jurist, and politician who has been the acting Chancellor of Austria since 10 January 2025. He previously held this position from 11 October 2021 to 6 December 2021.
Anže Logar is a Slovenian politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the third Janša cabinet from March 2020 to June 2022.
Karl Nehammer is an Austrian politician who served as Chancellor of Austria from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 2021, general secretary of the ÖVP from 2018 to 2020, as well as a member of the National Council from 2017 to 2020. Nehammer assumed the chancellorship as the successor of Alexander Schallenberg, who resigned in order to return to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nehammer announced his resignation as chancellor and ÖVP leader after unsuccessful coalition talks following the 2024 legislative election. He stepped down as chancellor on 10 January 2025.
Jan Lipavský is a Czech politician and information technology manager who has been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic since December 2021, in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala. A former member of the Czech Pirate Party, he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from October 2017 to October 2021.
The Cabinet of Petr Fiala is the current government of the Czech Republic, appointed on 17 December 2021. Following elections in October 2021, President Miloš Zeman asked Petr Fiala, as the leader of the Spolu alliance, to form a new government. On 17 November 2021 Fiala presented Zeman with the names of his proposed cabinet, and Zeman agreed to appoint Fiala as the new prime minister on 28 November 2021.
The Czech Republic's second Presidency of the Council of the European Union was held between 1 July and 31 December 2022. The country previously held the presidency from 1 January until 30 June 2009. The Czech presidency is part of the 11th Presidency Trio, together with France and Sweden. This trio is the first in the third cycle of presidencies. The presidency occurred under the leadership of Petr Fiala's Cabinet, though preparations started under the government of Andrej Babiš.
