Czech Republic: Prague's pragmatism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

1. For a general overview of the main features of Czech security policy see Radek Khol, ‘Security Policy’, in Otto Pick and Vladimír Handl (eds), Foreign Policy of the Czech Republic 1993–2004. Successes, Problems and Perspectives (Prague: Institute of International Relations, forthcoming).

2. See excellent accounts of the influence on the American decision to support NATO enlargement and work for ratification in the US Senate in George W. Grayson, Strange Bedfellows. NATO Marches East (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1999); James M. Goldgeier: Not Whether But When. The U.S. Decision to Enlarge NATO (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1999).

3. Jiří Šedivý and Petr Luňák, ‘The Czech Republic in an Atlantic Europe: a Small State's Ambitions, Roles and Responsibilities’, Romanian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 4, Special Issue No. 3 (1998), pp.272–86.

4. Security Strategy of the Czech Republic, updated version, adopted by the Czech government on 10 Dec. 2003, esp. paragraphs 15 and 20,  < www.mzv.cz > .

5. Stephen Larrabee, ‘East Central Europe: Problems, Prospects and Policy Dilemmas’, in Clay Clemens (ed.), NATO and the Quest for Post-Cold War Security (London: Macmillan, 1997), pp.87–109 and ‘Official Perspectives from Eastern Europe’, in ibid., pp.109–22.

6. Support for American policy and direct involvement of Czech-born Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were instrumental in securing this unpopular policy stance. The Czech political elite had to deal with a deep split among the public, who felt strong emotional and historical links to the people of Yugoslavia.

7. For an analysis of the Czech case see Jiří Šedivý, ‘The Kosovo Test: Are The Czechs Out?’, RUSI Newsbrief, Vol. 19, No. 6 (June 1999), pp.43–5. For a comparative analysis of the Kosovo crisis in the context of new NATO members see Ryan C. Hutchinson, ‘NATO's Visegrad Allies: The First Test in Kosovo’, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (June 2000), pp.25–38; Milada Anna Vachudova, ‘The Atlantic Alliance and Kosovo: Enlargement and the Behavior of New Allies’, in Pierre Martin and Mark R. Brawley (eds), Alliance Politics, Kosovo and NATO's War: Allied Force or Forced Allies? (New York: St Martin's Press, 2001), pp.303–32.

8. The Czech Republic directly contributed in Afghanistan to the American Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ with special forces, and to the ISAF international operation deployed under UN auspices after the collapse of the Taliban regime with a field hospital, Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) experts for the Provincial Reconstruction Team, and personnel for Kabul airport. More details on units offered to the US-led military effort can be found at the regularly updated fact sheet of the US Department of Defense,  < www.defenselink.mil/news/May2002/d20020523cu.pdf > .

9. This open letter was published in support of the US and allied solidarity on 30 Jan. 2003 in The Times and other leading European newspapers. See Jose María Aznar, Jose-Manuel Durão Barroso, Silvio Berlusconi, Tony Blair, Vaclav Havel, Peter Medgyessy, Leszek Miller and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, ‘United We Stand’, ‘Letter of Eight’,  < www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id = 110002994 > .

10. The Czech Republic deployed the 9th NBC Protection Company in Kuwait in March 2002 as part of Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ and later, in January 2003, at the request of the US reinforced it up to the level of the strengthened 1st Czech-Slovak NBC Protection Battalion (395 Czech + 79 Slovak troops), tasked with the protection of the civilian population and US-led coalition forces in Kuwait. Its activities on Iraqi territory were nevertheless limited by a decision of the Czech Parliament that added the condition of a direct UN Security Council mandate for such a move. Later on, it was nevertheless allowed to enter Iraq as part of US-led coalition fighting forces under the umbrella of a humanitarian mission, for which the Czech Republic immediately deployed the 7th Field Hospital.

11. For a detailed analysis of Czech policy during the Iraqi crisis see Ivan Gabal, ‘The Czech Republic and War in Iraq’, in Marek Štastný (ed.), Iraq Crisis and Politics in USA, Europe and V4 Countries (Bratislava: Institute for Public Affairs, 2003).

12. See also a general assessment of the Atlanticist orientation of the entire group of Central European countries in Antonio Missiroli, ‘The Central Europeans Between the EU and NATO’, Survival, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Winter 2004–05), pp.121–36.

13. For a detailed analysis of Czech Security Policy features and deployments abroad see Radek Khol, ‘The Czech Republic’, in Hans-Joachim Gießmann (ed.), Security Yearbook 2004. The Twin Enlargement of the EU and NATO (Nomos: Baden-Baden, 2004).

14. Czech President Václav Havel and Foreign Minster Jiří Dienstbier have to be named above all.

15. Josefine Wallat, ‘Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic and the Visegrad Co-operation’, Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 2001), pp.24–35; Jiří Šedivý, ‘From Dreaming to Realism – Czechoslovak Security Policy since 1989’, Perspectives, No. 4 (Winter 1994/95), pp.61–71; see also Karel Tesař, Security Diplomacy, Policy-making and Planning in Post-Cold War Prague, Harmonie Paper No. 12 (Groningen: CESS, 2000).

16. For details see Jiří Šedivý, ‘The Nuclear Question in the Czech Republic’, Perspectives, No. 9 (Winter 1997/98), pp.77–88.

17. Its first headquarters was established in Liberec in Northern Bohemia, and the Czech armed forces provided lead-nation capabilities for its first rotation (Dec. 2003–Dec. 2004). For more details see  < www.army.cz > .

18. Czech producers such as Gumárny Zubří offering gas masks and other NBC detection and protection equipment targeted Persian Gulf states as its prime market shortly after the 1991 Gulf War, where the Czech NBC protection unit operated. Yet concrete results were only limited and the interest of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in procuring the full equipment for NBC protection brigades did not materialize as a major contract.

19. For more details see Libor Frank, ‘Institutional and Documentary Framework of Czech Security Policy’, Central European Political Studies (online), Vol. 5, No. 2–3,  < www.cepsr.cz/clanek.php?ID = 161 > .

20. Security Strategy of the Czech Republic, updated version, adopted by the Czech government on 10 December 2003, para. 43, available at < www.mzv.cz > . Of interest here are also paras 15, 18, 24, 30, 47 and 48.

21. Military Strategy of the Czech Republic 2004, updated version, adopted by the Czech government on 9 June 2004. Doctrine of Czech Armed Forces 2004, Dec. 2004. Both available at  < www.army.cz > .

22. See the contribution of Mark Smith in this issue.

23. This section is based on the author's off-the-record interviews with several MFA and MoD officials, who kindly shared their thoughts with him.

24. Even a radar station may provoke strong opposition, after witnessing local protests against the construction of a NATO backbone radar near the Slavkov (Austerlitz) memorial of the 1805 battlefield.

25. ‘Štít prý rozkol nevyvolá’, Mladá fronta DNES, 21 June 2001.

26. ‘Ochota spolupracovat’, Právo, 5 Oct. 2002.

27. Interview with Czech Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdík, ‘Amerika za nás nic nerozhoduje, jen nám sděluje svuj názor’, Právo, 30 Nov. 2002.

28.See  < www.vlada.cz > .

29. The media case started with the article ‘Spojené státy tajně jednají o výstavbě raketové základny v České republice’, Britské listy, 9 July 2004, followed by stories in all main Czech papers, e.g. ‘Protiraketová základna USA v Česku je znovu ve hře’, Právo, 13 July 2004; ‘V Česku by mohla být základna, která by byla součástí protiraketové obrany’, Lidové noviny, 13 July 2004. The story was then followed for several weeks on Britské listy, but the Czech mainstream media lost interest in it once the official denial was issued.

30. ODS defence expert Jiří Payne campaigned for Czech participation in the US NMD project in 2000; see his newspaper articles ‘Evropa se nebojí Ruska, ale Ameriky!’, Právo, 11 May 2000;‘Mění se principy rovnováhy’, Lidové noviny, 18 July 2000.

31. Declaration of ODS expert commissions (foreign and defence affairs), 13 March 2001; Manifesto of Czech Euro-realism, April 2001; Memorandum towards professionalization of the Czech armed forces, July 2001; Election manifesto for June 2002 elections – all available at  < www.ods.cz > .

32. Czech expert debate on missile defence issues is still rather limited; the only major Czech work on the issue was published only in late 2004, see Radek Khol and František Šulc, Protiraketová obrana. Americký project a jeho mezinárodní dusledky [Missile Defence: US Project and its International Consequences] (Prague: Institute of International Relations, 2004). Czech Members of Parliament and security experts thus far mostly lack the solid knowledge of missile defence issues that is necessary to start a real debate on the pros and cons of Czech participation in it.