The dominant orientations and governing moves that have prevailed over the Czech Republic’s foreign policy towards the region, in the past few years, demonstrate a desire to reach a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis, support Yemeni legitimacy in the face of the putschist militias, provide humanitarian assistance to Arab conflict zones, confront cross-border terrorism, halt refugee flows, curb illegal immigration, oppose Turkish regional policies, enhance reconstruction efforts of collapsed areas within states, endorse policies in support for Israel, and assist the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Such policies demonstrate that they are somewhat detached from the European Union policies in some cases, in harmony with the interests of the US and Israel, and compatible with the policies of some Arab states in other cases.
In general, Prague’s policies and positions towards the Middle East interactions can be illustrated as follows:
1- A peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis: The Czech Republic’s vision is to intensify efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria, based on preserving its sovereignty, independence and unity, through Syrian-Syrian dialogue without any foreign interference. It believes that this conflict cannot be resolved militarily after almost eight years of its outbreak, although indications suggest that the Assad regime could regain more areas that were controlled by the armed opposition and terrorist organizations without achieving peace, which largely corresponds with the US vision, which ties Syria’s reconstruction to political and constitutional changes.
Perhaps the Czech Republic is the only European country that has not severed its ties with the Syrian regime, considering that the alternative is chaos and terrorism. Moreover, it provides consular services to EU citizens and plays intermediary roles on behalf of other countries. Accordingly, on 9 August 2018, the Czech Foreign Ministry said: “The Czech Republic has negotiated the release of two Germans working for a humanitarian organization in Syria…The workers moved to Prague and met with representatives of their embassy there”. This happened after Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek’s visit to Damascus on the same day.
During a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, the Czech foreign Minister said: “His country’s decision to keep its embassy open in Damascus contributed to enhancing communication between the two countries and to get to know the reality of the situation in Syria objectively…It hopes that a political solution to the crisis could be found in Syria, and to restore security and stability to all parts of Syria as soon as possible”. Since 2012, the Czech embassy in Damascus has been protecting the interests of Washington, as Sweden does in North Korea and Switzerland in Iran.
Settlement in Yemen
2- Supporting the legitimate Yemeni government in the face of the putschist militias: The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Defence of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg, during his meeting with the Ambassador of Yemen to Prague, Omar Saba’ah, said on 20 March 2017 that his government was ready to make further efforts to support the legitimate government of Yemen and the achievement of a political settlement that would avert further war and destruction caused by the putschist militia.
Aid Relief
3- Providing humanitarian and logistical assistance to Arab conflict zones: The Czech government approved a humanitarian and development assistance program for Syria (2016-2019), where aid is transferred directly from Prague to Damascus by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), providing medical equipment, as well as the rehabilitation of educational and social institutions, among other infrastructures. The Czech government has also offered its assistance in revamping Syrian antiquities that came under terrorist attacks.
Combating Terrorism
4- Countering cross-border terrorism: The Czech official stance underscores the need to block the transfer of weapons, money and fighters to conflict zones, particularly in Iraq and Syria, and to coordinate military operations against ISIS. This happens in parallel with the participation of Czech jet fighters in striking ISIS positions in its main spheres of influence, given that there are Czech fighters associated with the organization, along with al-Nusra Front, in addition to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.
Against this backdrop, the Czech President, Miloš Zeman, said on 26 September 2014: “There is a real danger that we are overlooking, which is ISIS. And if you look at the 'projected' map of the Islamic State until 2020, you will find that the caliphate occupies half of Europe and all of Central Asia, not to mention the Middle East region. You will say that this is a state of madness, but it is about to come true. It is dangerous, and we must fight international terrorism together”.
The issue is not so much about fighting regional terrorism as global terrorism. Former Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said, at a press conference with Haider al-Abadi on August 27, 2017, that “the war waged by Iraqi forces against ISIS is a global war against terrorism and not an Iraqi war”, adding that “His country is pleased that the Iraqi arsenal that has been used in the fight against terrorism included Czech-made L-159 aircrafts, which were sold to Iraq earlier, as well as weapons donated by his country to the Iraqi army, including ammunition and machine guns”.
Also, on 28 November 2014, the Czech Republic stressed its support for the Iraqi government in the war against ISIS, while participating in the training of the central government’s security and military forces, as well as the Kurdish militia Peshmerga. In an interview with the Middle East News Agency (MENA) on January 31, 2016, former Czech foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek underlined “the Czech support for the Egyptian government in its fight against ISIS and other extremist groups, regardless of the names they use”.
In an interview with TV Blesk channel, on 7 July 2016, President Miloš Zeman highlighted the need for the international coalition against terrorism “to join forces with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to combat ISIS”, which reflects the significant security threat to terrorism to the Czech Republic and the extent to which it is associated with the so-called Islamophobia. Thus, the former Czech foreign minister, Lubomír Zaorálek, said on 27 January 2015: “The Muslims themselves must treat the cancer of the extremism, and the Arabs specifically should prove that killing and terrorism are not the true teachings of Islam”.
Stopping Infiltrators
5- Halting the influx of refugees from Arab conflict zones in particular from Syria: The Czech government is therefore combating cross-border infiltration of refugees through predominantly exclusionary procedures. Numerous writings indicate that refugees are in difficult circumstances, prompting UNESCO to warn against the dangers that may face their children due to the stringent policies of the Czech government (as well as Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) towards refugees, such as detaining them, stripped of their clothes, in camps. According to various reports, the Czech police deliberately marked the migrants by writing numbers on the hands of each refugee, in September 2015, in a move that was considered by human rights organizations as a “Nazi practice”.
In the same vein, President Milos Zeman billed the current wave of migrants as an “organized invasion”, calling on Syrian and Iraqi young immigrants to take up arms and fight ISIS instead of migrating to Europe.
This may explain why the Czech Republic refused to receive 450 asylum-seekers on July 15, 2018, who were rescued from a fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea. The Czech Prime minister Andrej Babiš said on Twitter: “Accepting some rescued passengers would be a way to hell and would only motivate human smugglers to bring more migrants on a perilous cruise”, adding that “We must help migrants in their countries, away from the EU”.
Combating Crime Syndicates
6- Curbing illegal migration: The Czech government seeks to beef up measures to combat irregular migration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Government of National Accord denounced the statements made by Czech Prime minister Andrej Babiš on 17 December 2017, about his “country’s readiness to send Czech troops to protect Libya’s southern border”, as part of its efforts to curb illegal immigration from the African desert and Middle East region through Libya to the southern European countries.
The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Libya, and that if there is cooperation in combating illegal immigration with the international community and friendly countries, it is limited only to logistical and intelligence assistance as provided for in the bilateral agreements signed with those states and organizations, and in line with international covenants and treaties”. “A radical solution is not only a security solution but a development of the countries of origin, as well as fighting organized crime syndicates that exploit the human trafficking and immigration as a source of financing”, it added.
Criticizing Ankara
7- Opposing Turkish regional policies: Czech President Miloš Zeman, according to the Czech news agency on December 11, 2015, considered that “Turkey acts occasionally as an ally of ISIS, more than an ally of the NATO”, which explains the Czech objection to the EU’s aid in billions of euros to Turkey to support the refugees. President Zeman said: “Turkey is capable of caring for these refugees, both of whom share the same religion”.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ told the Anatolian news agency on February 27, 2018, that the ruling by a Czech court for the release of Syrian Kurdish leader Saleh Musallam was a “resolution to support terrorism”, as a Musallam was a former leader of the Kurdish party in Syria (the Democratic Union Party), which Ankara views as part of the PKK, a group designated by Turkey, the US and the EU as a terrorist group.
Reconstruction Efforts
8- Enhancing reconstruction efforts: Some Czech public and private companies are looking to contribute to rebuilding the areas destroyed by conflicts in the Middle East. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari pointed out that during the visit of former Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek to Baghdad in November 2014, “the Czech Republic has extensive experience in building cities, reconstruction and other economic fields”. “His country has the opportunity to contribute to the reconstruction of Syria and Iraq in view of its continuing relations with these countries”, Zaorálek said at a press conference on March 16, 2017.
At a press conference with Haider al-Abadi on 27 August 2017, former Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka also expressed his hopes that Czech companies would be given the opportunity to take part in the reconstruction of Iraq in the coming stage, especially those companies specializing in the fields of refinery construction, the development of oil and gas industries, other heavy industries, production of agricultural machinery, the automobile industry, and paving roads.
Here, it should be noted that Czech librarians, in cooperation with the People In Need (PIN), a nonprofit organization, have raised donations for the reconstruction of the Mosul library, which was destroyed by the war against ISIS, one of the most important libraries in the Middle East, particularly that it contains more than one million documents of rare manuscripts and old publications.
Backing Tel Aviv
9- Endorsing supportive policies for Israel: It is evident in the Czech support for US President Donald Trump’s decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem on December 6, 2017 and announcing its intention to follow suit. In parallel, the Czech Republic, along with Hungary and Romania, blocked a European declaration criticizing the US decision. In 2012, the Czech Republic had declared its opposition to granting Palestine non-member observer State status at the United Nations.
Security Cooperation
10- Participating in the NATO mission in Afghanistan: The killing of three Czech soldiers in a suicide attack on the NATO mission in Afghanistan on August 7, 2018 sparked controversy over the significance and repercussions of the Czech military presence in the latter. However, Czech ambassador to NATO Jiri Sedivy said the pullout would undermine the credibility of the Czech Republic as a responsible partner in the defense alliance, reflecting the Czech desire to pay for the presence of its forces, thereby enhancing its role in the NATO.
Parallel Moves
In short, the ten above-mentioned policies espoused by the Czech government highlight parallel moves, including pressing forward in a peaceful settlement of Arab conflicts in Syria and Yemen, strengthening regional and international coordination to counter the terrorism of ISIS and other extremist organizations, opposing the ambiguous Turkish policies towards previous organizations, obtaining a share of the “cake” in the reconstruction of collapsed countries, addressing the problems in flashpoints on the EU’s external borders, seeking alternative plans to reduce the number of immigrants to Europe, backing the US and Israeli policies towards the Palestinian cause and the centrality of Jerusalem, and affirming the importance of partnership with NATO in Kabul.
