Final Word from Tuesday, October 10, 2023

PM Petr Fiala wrote on X yesterday that he's convinced that moving the Czech embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a desirable step at the present time. The official EU position, until and unless it changes, is that EU member states should not have embassies in Jerusalem, and MP Jakub Michálek of the Pirates said on ČT24 last night (at 10:18pm) that the CR is not prepared for this from a security standpoint. He would be very careful about becoming the first EU country to be drawn into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said. Pres. Petr Pavel's stance on moving the embassy is unclear, according to HN, but Pavel spoke last week about giving up the EU veto in some areas. He disputed the meaning of his own words later on Instagram, but there is little doubt that his comment in Bruges applied to foreign-policy decisions. A statement now in support of moving the embassy would at least show that he still thinks the CR is entitled to conduct its own sovereign foreign policy. [ Czech Republic Hamas Gaza Strip Twitter Czech TV Television Belgium College of Europe ]