The Czech Republic is the second former communist country, after Slovenia, to hold the EU's presidency. Its recent history and its geographic location – at the centre of Europe but near the EU's borders to the south and east – help explain the three priorities that it has set itself in the field of foreign affairs for the first half of 2009, when it holds the presidency of the Council of Ministers. They are transatlantic relations, EU enlargement and the new partnership with five neighbours in eastern Europe and the south Caucasus.
Obama's influence
Expectations in Europe are high ahead of Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the US on 20 January. A quick succession of multilateral summits will test the proposition that the incoming administration will be more in tune with the interests and preferences of its European allies. On 2 April, the G20 – which gathers together the world's most advanced economies and key emerging countries – will hold a summit in London. Many of the G20 leaders, including Obama, will then travel to Strasbourg and Baden-Baden, where NATO will celebrate its 60th anniversary (3-4 April). And the annual EU-US summit is also likely to take place around that time, probably in Prague. A divisive issue that is bound to come up early on is what many governments with troops in Afghanistan see as an unfair burden-sharing there.
The Czech Republic has direct, recent experience with enlargement, having entered the EU in 2004. Unlike Slovenia, which entered at the same time and held the EU's presidency in the first half of this year, it has no territorial or other disputes with the countries of the western Balkans that are now on the Union's threshold, above all Croatia, the most advanced of the would-be members. “We will encourage Croatia to speed up its preparations [for membership],” says a Czech diplomat. Another focus will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, where reform has stagnated in recent months. The western Balkans will be at the centre of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in March.
The Czech government also wants to make sure that the EU's new Eastern Partnership, initial plans for which were presented by the European Commission last week (3 December), will be more than a talking-shop. The scheme, to be launched at a summit in Prague in the spring, includes Ukraine and Azerbaijan, countries that are critical for the EU's energy supplies. The remaining participants – Moldova, Armenia and Georgia – could be joined by Belarus once it begins a path towards democratisation. Democracy promotion is an additional priority for the Czech presidency, according to Vera R?ihác?ková, an analyst with Europeum, a Prague-based think-tank. She notes a growing realism on the part of the Czech government towards countries such as Cuba and Belarus, with which Prague was previously more intransigent.
